Synchrotron texture analysis with area detectors

The wide availability of X-ray area detectors provides an opportunity for using synchrotron radiation based X-ray diffraction for the determination of preferred crystallite orientation in polycrystalline materials. These measurements are very fast compared to other techniques. Texture is immediately recognized as intensity variations along Debye rings in diffraction images, yet in many cases this information is not used because the quantitative treatment of texture information has not yet been developed into a standard technique. In special cases it is possible to interpret the texture information contained in these intensity variations intuitively. However, diffraction studies focused on the effects of texture on materials properties often require the full orientation distribution function (ODF) which can be obtained from spherical tomography analysis. In cases of high crystal symmetry (cubic and hexagonal) an approximation to the full ODF can be reconstructed from single diffraction images, as is demonstrated for textures in rolled copper and titanium sheets. Combined with area detectors, the reconstruction methods make the measurements fast enough to study orientation changes during phase transformations, recrystallization and deformation in situ, and even in real time, at a wide range of temperature and pressure conditions. The present work focuses on practical aspects of texture measurement and data processing procedures to make the latter available for the growing community of synchrotron users. It reviews previous applications and highlights some opportunities for synchrotron texture analysis based on case studies on different materials.