The Game of Diffraction
Ever wondered how single-crystal diffraction works, and how we can predict where the Bragg peaks will emerge on the detector?
Works best on a desktop browser.
Try the game, made using xrays_on_detector, an open-source package for six-circle diffraction, with a second machine built in: a pitch–phi surface diffractometer whose sample angles and detector position (2θ, azimuth) are solved the same way.
You are free to reorient the sample, drive the goniometer circles, change the detector model and its distance, and tune the X-ray energy, then watch the diffraction pattern each configuration produces for a range of crystals. You can also drive the detector arm onto a particular hkl reflection. The Diffractometer selector in the control panel switches between the six-circle machine and the pitch–phi one.