Rietveld refinement has become an essential tool for the quantitative analysis of crystal structures in polycrystalline systems using X-ray diffraction data. This tutorial paper focuses on the background, case studies, and practical implementation of Rietveld refinement using the open-source software PROFEX. Key structural parameters, such as lattice constants and phase fractions, can be quantitatively extracted through full-pattern fitting. Case studies involving compositional variation, electric fields, temperature changes, and battery cycling demonstrate the broad applicability of Rietveld refinement in materials science, energy storage, and catalysis. A step-by-step procedure for performing Rietveld refinement is presented using Bi_1/2Na_1/2TiO₃ perovskite ceramic as an example, providing guidance on software installation, preparing crystal structure information files, performing Rietveld refinement, evaluating results using R-factor and χ² values, and summarizing the results. This tutorial aims to improve understanding and accessibility of Rietveld refinement for researchers seeking to investigate structure-property relationships in complex material systems.

In functional materials, in situ experimental techniques as a function of external stimulus (e.g., electric field, magnetic field, light, etc.) or changes in ambient environments (e.g., temperature, humidity, pressure, etc.) are highly essential for analyzing how the physical properties of target materials are activated/evolved by the given stimulation. In particular, in situ electric-field-dependent X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements have been extensively utilized for understanding the underlying mechanisms of the emerging electromechanical responses to external electric field in various ferroelectric, piezoelectric, and electrostrictive materials. This tutorial article briefly introduces basic principles/key concepts of in situ electric-field-dependent XRD analysis using a lab-scale XRD machine. We anticipate that the in situ XRD method provides a practical tool to systematically identify/monitor a structural modification of various electromechanical materials driven by applying an external electric field.

In this work, in order to effectively improve the electrical conductivity and visible light transmittance of ZnO thin films, ZnO single layer and ZnO/Ag bi-layer films were deposited on glass substrates by radio frequency and direct current magnetron sputtering, and then, the effects of an Ag buffer layer and electron beam irradiation on the electrical and optical properties of the films were investigated. The observed results indicate that ZnO 100 nm / Ag 7 nm films show higher opto-electrical performance than the ZnO single layer film. In addition, electron beam irradiation also effectively enhanced the visible transmittance and electrical conductivity of the ZnO/Ag bi-layer films.

This paper presents a study on the dispersion effect of the X-Ray diffraction, glass transition and DIMA properties of organic modifier clay/epoxy nanocomposites produced in a homogenizer. Several experiments were conducted including different types of dispersion condition with varying processing conditions such as homogenizer rotor speed and applied time of homogenizer. The effects of these variables on the dispersion properties of nanocomposites were then studied. In order to fully understand the experimental results, a X-ray diffraction, DSC and DMA were used to investigate the effect of above mentioned variables on microstructure and intercalation/exfoliation of organic modifier clay/epoxy nanocomposites. The results from this work could be used to determine the best processing condition to obtain appropriate levels of d-spacing, glasss transition temperature and storage modulus in organic modifier clay/epoxy nanocomposites.

AlN thin films were deposited on p-type Si(100) substrates by RF magnetron sputtering method. This study showed the change of the preferential orientation of AlN thin films deposition with the change of the deposition conditions such as sputtering pressure and Ar/N2 gas ratio in chamber. It was identified by X-ray diffraction patterns that AlN thin film deposited at low sputtering pressure has a (002) orientation, however its preferred orientation was changed from the (002) to the (100) orientation with increasing sputtering pressure. Also, it was observed that the properties of AlN thin films such as thickness, grain size and surface roughness were largely dependent on Ar/N2 gas ratio and a high quality thin film could be prepared at lower nitrogen concentration. AlN thin films were investigated relationship between preferential orientation and deposition condition by using XRD, FE-SEM and PFM.

In the study, the characteristics of the etched Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films surface, the etch rate of ZnO thin film in Cl2/BCl3/Ar plasma was investigated. The maximum ZnO etch rate of 53 nm/min was obtained for Cl2/BCl3/Ar=3:16:4 sccm gas mixture. According to the x-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), the etched ZnO thin film was investigated to the chemical reaction of the ZnO surface in Cl2/BCl3/Ar plasma. The field emission auger electron spectroscopy (FE-AES) analysis showed an elemental analysis from the etched surfaces. According to the etching time, the ZnO thin film of etched was obtained to The AES depth-profile analysis. We used to atomic force microscopy to determine the roughness of the surface. So, the root mean square of ZnO thin film was 17.02 in Cl2/BCl3/Ar plasma. Based on these data, the ion-assisted chemical reaction was proposed as the main etch mechanism for the plasmas.