47th Annual (1998) Denver X-ray Conference™ 1998 Denver X-ray Conference™ Report August 3-7, 1998 Colorado Springs, CO Characterized by its traditional friendly atmosphere, the 1998 Denver X-ray Conference™ took place August 3-7 at the Antlers Doubletree Hotel, Colorado Springs, Colorado. The conference hosted 389 registered attendees and 275 exhibitors who represented 39 companies. Fifty-three exhibit booths, where vendors displayed products and services relating to X-ray powder diffraction and X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, were available to attendees. TECHNICAL PROGRAM The technical program offered two days of tutorial workshops, followed by three days of special, contributed, and poster sessions on a variety of topics. The workshops included: XRD & XRF XRD XRF W-1 Specimen Prep. I: Methods in XRD & XRF Buhrke/Jenkins/Smith W-2 The Design, Alignment, Calibration & Performance Characteristics of the Conventional Laboratory Diffractometer Cline/Cheary W-3 XRF Standards Brammer/Gilfrich W-4 Specimen Prep. II: Methods in XRD & XRF Buhrke/Jenkins/Smith W-5 Use of Total Pattern Fitting for Quantitative Phase Analysis Toraya/Smith W-6 Reflectometry for Surface & Thin-Film Characterization- Huang/Snyder/Goebel/Lengeler W-7 Working Close to Detection Limits: XRF Sieber/Holynska/Currie/Van Grieken W-8 Principles & Use of Microdiffraction & Microfluorescence I Eatough/Tissot W-9 Conclusions from the Intensity Round Robin: XRD Jenkins/Rafaja/Taylor W-10 Applications of TXRF Wobrauschek/Pianetta/Streli W-11 Principles & Use of Microdiffraction & Microfluorescence II Eatough/Tissot W-12 Diffractometer Optics Noyan/Goldsmith W-13 High Temperature XRD Hubbard/Payzant/Misture W-14 Quantitative Techniques & Errors in XRF Anzelmo/Jenkins/Mauser The plenary session, "XRD/XRF — Now What?" , began this year’s technical sessions. Chaired by Bob Snyder, The Ohio State University, and Mary Ann Zaitz, IBM, the plenary session included the following invited presentations: X-ray Optics — E. Spiller, Spiller X-ray Optics, Mt. Kisco, NY Microcalorimeter EDS with 3 eV Energy Resolution — J. Martinis, D.A. Wollman, K.D. Irwin, G.C. Hilton, L.L. Dulcie and N.F. Bergren, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO XRF Detection Limits: How Low Can We Go? — G. Havrilla, Los Alamos National Lab., Los Alamos, NM Synchrotron Applications of Powder Diffraction and X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy, R. Harlow, (representing the Braggnet Group) The DuPont Company, Wilmington, DE Other technical sessions included: XRD & XRF XRD XRF C-1 Synchrotron Applications of XRD & XRF Harlow/Hart C-2 Developments in Detectors for X-ray Analysis Martinis/Blanton D-1 Residual Stresses Hauk/Predecki D-2 Diffraction Applications Smith/Barton F-1 Application of XRF to the Analysis of Thin Films Wilson/Madden C-3 Recent Advances in X-ray Optics 1 MacDonald/Harada C-4 Recent Developments in Instrumentation & Data Treatment I Buhrke/Vrebos D-3 Thin Films I: Orientation, Stress, Thickness Noyan/Rafaja D-4 Innovative Applications of Rietveld Analysis Young/Bish F-2 Practical Problems in XRF 1 Kocman/Feret C-5 Recent Advances in X-ray Optics II Goebel/Gibson C-6 Recent Developments in Instrumentation & Data Treatment II Havrilla/O’Connor D-5 Thin Films II: Orientation, Stress Thickness Huang/Scardi D-6 Impact of Rietveld Analysis & Use of Calculated Patterns in Quantitative Phase Analysis Snyder/Jenkins F-3 Practical Problems in XRF II Harding/Piorek C-7 Micro XRF/XRD Carpenter/Goldsmith D-7 Materials Process Characterization by Diffraction Hubbard/Misture F-4 Environmental Applications of XRF Holynska/Gilfrich Three poster award winners were selected for XRF and XRD (respectively): XRF: High Resolution X-ray Detectors based on Al/AlxOy/Al Tunnel Junctions and Superconducting Ir/Au Phase Transition Thermometers — J. Höhne, M. Altmann, G. Angloher, P. Hettl, J. Jochum, T. Nüßle, S. Pfnür, M.L. Sarsa, J. Schnagl, S. Wänninger and F.v. Feilitzsch, Technical University Munich, Germany XRF: CHEMIN: A Miniaturized CCD-Based Instrument for Simultaneous X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) Analysis — D.L. Bish, D.T. Vaniman, S.J. Chipera, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, S.A. Collins, T. Elliott, Jet Propulsion Lab, Pasadena, CA and D.F. Blake, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA XRF: XEFS and EXEFS — J. Kawai and K. Hayashi, Kyoto University, Japan XRD: Residual Stress Measurement of Diamond Thin Film — H. Hirose, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH and T. Sasaki, Kanazawa University, Japan XRD: Ab Initio Synchrotron Powder Structures of Metal Phosphonates — A. Cabeza, M.A.G. Aranda and S. Bruque, Universidad de Málaga, Spain XRD: An XRD Morphology Index for Talcs — H.J. Holland and M.J. Murtagh, Corning Incorporated, Corning, NY Honorable Mention: XRD: Quantitative XRD Analysis of Coal Combustion By-products by the Rietveld Method — S. Lerach, M. Wisdom, D.G. Grier, R. Winburn and G.J. McCarthy, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND AWARDS Presentation of awards preceded the plenary session. The 1998 Birks Award was presented to Dr. Horst Ebel of Technische Universität Wien, Austria, recognizing his excellence in the field of X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. Dr. Herbert Göbel of Siemens AG, Germany, received the J.D. Hanawalt Award for his important recent contribution to the field of X-ray powder diffraction. Dr. Göbel also presented a lecture on his recognized work entitled "High Temperature Studies with Oven Cameras" at the conference.     SOCIAL ACTIVITIES Social activities included several evening mixers sponsored by various vendors. On Sunday, Bede Scientific, Claisse Scientifique, and SPEX CertiPrep sponsored the welcoming reception. Monday’s social was sponsored by Bruker AXS, which was held in conjunction with the XRF Poster Session. The XRD Poster Session, held on Tuesday, was held in conjunction with a reception given by Rigaku/USA and MDI. ICDD sponsored some refreshments, following its Technical Committee Meeting, on Wednesday evening. The social activities culminated with the conference dinner on Thursday evening, where attendees were entertained by humorous travel, laboratory, or conference stories presented by volunteer victims. INTERNATIONAL X-RAY ANALYSIS SOCIETY (IXAS) A meeting of the Denver X-ray Conference™ Organizing Committee took place at the conference, where the step was taken to form a new society dedicated to the use of ionizing radiations for materials analysis. The society will be known as the International X-ray Analysis Society (IXAS). The eleven members of the Organizing Committee have formed the basis of the steering committee and about thirteen non-US members are being solicited to join the committee. Ron Jenkins will chair the Steering Committee and Greg McCarthy from North Dakota State University will serve as secretary/treasurer. It is anticipated that after a period of two years, the IXAS will hold their own elections to ensure the ongoing viability of the IXAS. ICDD MEETINGS ICDD held its task group, subcommittee, and technical committee meetings during the week, in conjunction with the conference.