Hard X-ray texture measurements with an on-line image plate detector

An instrument for diffraction texture measurements in polycrystalline bulk materials using hard X-ray photons from the wiggler beamline BW5 at HASYLAB is described. High-energy photons in the 100 keV regime enable high penetration power in medium-to-high Z materials and the use of Laue diffraction geometry in combination with a two-dimensional area detector allows fast and convenient data collection. Determination of quantitative, high-resolution pole figures with a better angular resolution of 0.1° is attained by the instrument. Profile analysis of the diffraction pattern parameters for each (h k l)-reflection thus provides, in addition to texture data, information about other microstructural quantities, e.g. lattice strain.