A personal-computer-controlled single-crystal diffractometer

A four-circle diffractometer system has been built around the Huber model 5042. The scintillation detector and associated electronics were assembled from commercially available standard modules. A comprehensive control program has been developed. It runs on a cheap personal computer that also incorporates a fast multichannel scaler board for automatic histogram production from continuous or step intensity scans. The software can handle the complete unit-cell determination and data collection in an automatic mode but for the experienced user who wishes to tailor the experiment to his or her particular needs, there are more than 100 commands available.