An improved low-power-consumption heating stage for X-ray powder diffraction

An improved low-power-consumption easy-to-operate simple heating stage for use in connection with an X-ray powder diffractometer is described and discussed. No modification is required to the conventional specimen chamber, which can be used safely up to a specimen temperature of at least 1200 K with a temperature accuracy of a few degrees. The stage is interchangeable with conventional specimen holders, without the need for realignment of the diffractometer. To prevent specimen oxidation, provisions are made for heating in an inert gaseous environment. Also, care has been taken to prevent scattered radiation escaping from the specimen chamber. The stage allows the study of structural transformations with temperature and so far it has been used successfully for the characterization of very different materials, such as hyaloclastite, smectites, montmorillonites and chlorocadmates with perovskite-like structures. Although the device has been designed for the Philips PW1820 X-ray diffractometer, it can be applied to other types of X-ray diffractometer.