The diffractometer enables the determination of crystalline structures of surfaces and very thin films, which is not possible with standard X-ray devices.

It is particularly suitable for the analysis of thin-film nano-materials, which are the research topic of several groups at the RBI. The device will significantly improve RBI capabilities to study the crystal structure of such materials while so far these investigations were performed mostly abroad.

The Ruđer Bošković Institute gratefully acknowledges the generous assistance and significant support of Dr. rer. nat. Joerg Grenzer and Rene Weidauer from the Structure Analysis Group of the HZDR Ion Beam Centre during device transfer and installation at the RBI.

Moreover, it is interesting to point out that this is not the only donation of the HZDR to our Institute. Some time ago, a valuable goniometer for Rutherford backscattering (RBS) channelling experiments was provided to the Laboratory for Ion Beam Interaction by the HZDR.