Data management and visualization of x-ray diffraction spectra from thin film ternary composition spreads

We discuss techniques for managing and visualizing x-ray diffraction spectrum data for thin film composition spreads which map large fractions of ternary compositional phase diagrams. An in-house x-ray microdiffractometer is used to obtain spectra from over 500 different compositions on an individual spread. The MATLAB software is used to quickly organize the data and create various plots from which one can quickly grasp different information regarding structural and phase changes across the composition spreads. Such exercises are valuable in rapidly assessing the "overall" picture of the structural evolution across phase diagrams before focusing in on specific composition regions for detailed structural analysis. We have also shown that simple linear correlation analysis of the x-ray diffraction peak information (position, intensity and full width at half maximum) and physical properties such as magnetization can be used to obtain insight about the physical properties. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.