Microstructure studies data-processing techniques

The most frequently used technique for the determination of crystal structures is single crystal analysis. However, if no single crystals of suitable size and quality are available, powder diffraction is the nearest alternative. Furthermore, single crystal analysis does not provide information on the bulk material and is not a routinely used technique for the determination of microstructural properties. Neither is it often used to characterize disorder in materials. Studies of macroscopic stresses in components, both residual from processing and in situ under load, are studied by powder diffraction, as is the texture of polycrystalline samples. Powder diffraction remains to this day a crucial tool in the characterization of materials, with increasing importance and breadth of application as instrumentation, methods, data analysis and modeling become more powerful and quantitative. 

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is a powerful and reliable technique that for many years has been an important tool for investigating chemical processes and structures. In the polymer fields, FTTR data is used in order to study characterization of chemical bonds, polymer microstructure, chain conformation, polymer morphology, crystallinity and etc, consequently is useful in SPR studies. 

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