The Material Science and Metallurgy (MSM) X-ray facility is a national facility dedicated to X-ray diffraction and scattering. The facility is accessible to everyone - members of the MSM, members of the University of Cambridge as well as external users from academia and industry. Find out how to become a user.
We have a wide range of equipment and software that can provide a variety of structural information relevant to materials science, for example:
- Phase identification
- Quantitative phase analysis of crystalline materials
- Degree of crystallinity
- Crystallite size / microstrain / crystalline perfection
- Lattice parameters for strain and/or chemical composition
- Orientation or texture of bulk samples, thin films and fibres
- Film thickness and multilayer repeat distances
- Thickness ratio of multilayers
- Presence and size of inhomogeneities such as colloidal particles in solution or voids in solid
The facility has dedicated staff to maintain equipment, assist with training, and discuss measurements and analysis.