New X-ray diffractometer at the University of Auckland

AXT has announced its installation of a Rigaku Ultimate IV X-ray diffractometer at the University of Auckland in the Faculty of Engineering. The system will serve as a replacement and upgrade to the university’s ageing system, facilitating researchers involved in a wide variety of endeavours.

The Ultima IV is said to be a highly versatile instrument capable of performing a range of analytical experiments to determine composition and phase assemblage. It includes Rigaku’s Cross Beam Optics (CBO), which allows users to quickly switch between parallel and focused beam geometries to suit their specific experiments.

The diffractometer is a fundamental piece of research infrastructure that services a large user base; as such, the acquisition was funded internally by the university. The bulk of the users are postgraduates carrying out high-end research projects, primarily in the area of materials science and advanced materials.

“The Ultima IV satisfied our technical requirements and came in at a price we could afford,” said Dr Alec Asadov, technical officer at the University of Auckland. “In particular, this mid-sized system fits the space we had available and it also offered us the flexibility to purchase other attachments and accessories down the track to expand its capabilities.”

The Ultima IV is already being heavily used, with undergraduate project students booking up capacity as they complete their projects. The system will also be used to carry out consulting work for commercial clients.

“This is the first of the current generation of instruments that we have installed in New Zealand and we are confident that the Ultima IV will provide a high-quality platform for University of Auckland researchers to generate publication-quality data and perform cutting-edge research,” said AXT Managing Director Richard Trett. “We look forward to working with the University of Auckland into the future as they join a host of larger SmartLab XRD installations in the Australia/New Zealand region.”

Pictured: The Rigaku Ultima IV X-ray diffractometer (XRD).