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Opening a Diffractogram in HighScore Plus
To open a diffractogram for evaluation, click File>Open (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Open Scan
Select the file you want to open. HighScore software can import files produced by Bruker D4 XRD or Panalytical AERIS XRD the file formats include .raw, .uxd, and .xrdml files.
- If you do not see the file you are looking for in the field Files type, select All files (.). This will bring up XRD files produced by the Bruker D4 or Panalytical AERIS.
- You can select multiple files; each one will open in its own window.
Click Open. The Scan is now open and ready for evaluation.
Getting Acquainted
The HighScore main screen has the following primary functional display windows.
You can customize the main screen for your own requirements; the most common desktop used is Phase-ID and can be selected on the bottom right toolbar in the drop down menu or Select View > Desktop > Desktop Name
Main GraphicsAdditional GraphicsPatterns and List Window.
Figure 2. Basic Layout of the "Phase-ID" Display.
For the Phase-ID Desktop display, you have three main windows :(Figure 2).
The Main Graphics window shows the scan and/or scans in the Analyze View.
The Additional graphics window displays the zoom overview.
The Pattern List is the third panel on the right of the screen can be used to examine the Peak List, Scan List, Quantification Graphs, and the Anchor Scan Data.
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Select Treatment > Determine Background.
The determine background window will show on the screen (Figure 3).
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You will want to choose your bending factor (normally a small number 1-2) and a granularity normally ranging from 15 to 30.
You can change the Bending factor by moving the slider on the Determine Background window. This field adjusts the curvature of the background.
You can change the Granularity by moving the slider. This field changes the number of intervals used for background determination.
Click Accept to accept the background. The Determine Background window is closed and the accepted background is displayed as a green line on the Main Graphics window (Figure 4).
Once you determine the background, subtract the Background by clicking Subtract in the Determine Background window.
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Once you have applied the background and searched for peaks the next step is to match the peaks.
Select Analysis >Search & Match > Execute Search & Match
The Search & Match window appears with a default parameters set (Figure 8). For initial searching the default parameters are fine to start with. You can adjust the parameters as necessary.
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The next step is to repeat the search-match with new, different parameters. The correct phase may not appear because of the restrictions used in the initial search-match being too tight or too wide. If necessary, repeat the search and match process above. Many identification problems can be solved this way.
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Select the desktop layout from Phase-ID to Rietveld Analysis on the Desktop toolbar (Figure 112).
View > Desktop > Desktop Name > Rietveld Analysis.
You can change the Desktop layout depending on the XRD analysis you perform in the HighScore Software.
Refinement ControlObject InspectorMain GraphicsAdditional Graphics.
Figure 112: Rietveld Analysis Desktop Layout
Start Analysis
Select Analysis > Fitting. Check that the option Fitting Mode is set to Automatic. Correct if necessary.
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Select Analysis > Fitting > Start Fit> and then select <Phase fit> Default Rietveld to start the refinement with the default Rietveld parameters set. Wait until it is finished, this may take a few minutes (Figure
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13).
Figure 213: Menu guide for the phase fit default Rietveld
In the Refinement Control tab in the Refinement Control Window on the main display, double-click the Global Variables to open the Object Inspector pane (Figure 314).
Select Global Settings>Agreement Indices to view the values of the Goodness of Fit and Weighted R profile.
Figure 314. Refinement Control window displaying the Refinement Control, global variables. The Object Inspector can be used to look at the fit properties and agreement indices.
2. Display the Phase Amounts
The phase amounts will automatically be displayed together with the phase legend in the Main Graphics Window once the Rietveld analysis is completed (Figure
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15).
You can also view the phase amounts by double clicking the Quantification tab (Figure
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14).
Phase amounts
displayed here 
Figure 415. Phase amounts as a percentage are displayed on the main graphics window.
Alternatively, you can open the Quantification pane in the Refinement Control window and view a pie chart of the quantification (Figure 516).
Figure 516. Pie chart of the phase amounts for the quantification of the phase.
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