A microcomputer-controlled x-ray diffractometer

Abstract

This paper deals with the use of an Apple microcomputer to control an x-ray diffractometer (Tel-X-Ometer), designed basically for various experiments on x-rays, among them x-ray diffraction. As it stands, however, the procedure is tedious: the scanning is done manually and the countrate, visually (via the scaler display). By delegating the scanning control and data acquisition to the microcomputer, the experimenter can devote more time to actual analysis of data and even in this respect, the microcomputer has a lot to offer.