A synchrotron X-ray diffraction study of a small congruent LiNbO3 crystal: A compatible approach to powder diffraction

Abstract

Single-crystal synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD) data were collected and refined for congruent lithium niobate crystals 8 and 6 μm in diameter, sizes that are comparable to the size of the powder particles used in powder diffraction. The motivation for using such small crystals is to minimize problems such as extinction, which decrease with crystal size. The R/wR factors were 0.011/0.014 and 0.019/0.018, for the 8 and 6 μm data, respectively, and the goodness of fit factors were 2.3(1) and 1.63(8), which compare favorably with values obtained from previous powder and single-crystal diffraction studies. Results from single-crystal XRD using crystals less than 10 μm in size may rival those obtained from powder diffraction.