Surface quality inspection of PbWO4 crystals by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction

High-quality scintillating crystals are required for applications in radiographic systems and high-energy physics detectors to achieve the specified optical properties. In order to study the state of the single crystals surface we propose the use of the grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GID) technique. This technique allows performing a depth profiling of the sample by changing the incidence angle of the X-ray beam with respect to the sample surface. In this work, two samples of a large PbWO4 (PWO) single crystal exhibiting different surface roughness values have been studied. Results have shown that GID is a suitable technique for surface quality inspection.