In-situ or non-ambient XRD is a vital tool for gaining a complete understanding of a materials behavior under different environmental conditions. When exposing sample materials to non-ambient conditions, their properties (both chemical and physical) may change significantly, frequently leading to a completely different behavior of the material. Due to this, intensive studies have to be performed in order to obtain material properties over the complete range of possible non-ambient conditions. Depending on the application, different types of environmental control may be required and parameters such as temperature, pressure, relative humidity, gas environment (including reactive or explosive gases), mechanical load, and electric fields can be altered so that samples can be measured in-situ under real world conditions.
 
Anton Paar is the market leader in non-ambient XRD instrumentation and is continuously striving to optimize the design and performance of commercially available non-ambient XRD stages. This includes methods to maximize the temperature accuracy and stability of the non-ambient attachment while minimizing any temperature gradients in the sample.
 
Measurement data from different devices will be presented showing how such instrumentation can be exploited in various application fields with a focus on ceramics. Non-ambient XRD is an ideal method to study ceramic materials, for example, it can be used to study sintering processes in-situ with a controlled temperature and atmosphere to optimize synthesis processes.