First experiments at the Swiss Light Source Materials Science beamline powder diffractometer

The Materials Science beamline at the Swiss Light Source saw 'first light' in Spring 2001 and is presently undergoing commissioning and pilot experiment operation. In this article we concentrate on one of the three MS beamline stations, the Powder Diffractometer, and report on resolution tests and first experimental results. Using the high-resolution multi-crystal analyzer detector, full widths at half maximum (FWHM) smaller than 0.01degrees were measured with standard powders and FWHMs smaller than 0.003degrees were measured with a single Si(111) crystal and a very low-divergent incident beam. With the same detector, first residual stress measurements on low pressure plasma sprayed coatings were performed. Dynamic electric field-induced strain effects in relaxor perovskite crystals and the influence of water-soluble polymers on the early hydration of cement were studied using a fast read-out multistrip solid-state detector.