{"id":551,"date":"2023-01-23T17:12:53","date_gmt":"2023-01-23T22:12:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.utk.edu\/iamm\/?page_id=551"},"modified":"2026-05-11T16:54:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T20:54:03","slug":"diffraction-facility","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/research.utk.edu\/iamm\/about\/core-facilities\/diffraction-facility\/","title":{"rendered":"Diffraction Facility"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Individuals from academia, national labs, and industry use the Diffraction Facility to perform a wide range of experiments. Basic usage revolves around the identification and quantification of phases, crystallinity, lattice parameters, crystallite size, and microstrain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More advanced uses include high-temperature in-situ experiments, investigating preferred orientation with pole figures, determining residual stresses, and studying thin films with X-ray reflectivity, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The facility has two \u201cpowder\u201d diffractometers that can accommodate powders, solids, and thin films; one single crystal diffractometer; and one X-ray fluorescence instrument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Staff<\/summary>
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Claudia Rawn<\/strong>
Director & Scientific Leader
crawn@utk.edu<\/a>
Contact for scientific questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Claudia Rawn is an associate professor in UT\u2019s Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) and director of the UT Center for Materials Processing. Prior to joining the university full time, she was a senior research staff member in the Diffraction and Thermophysical Properties Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and a joint faculty member in MSE. Her research interests include the investigation of crystal structures, phase transitions, and thermophysical properties of materials using in-situ X-ray and neutron diffraction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rawn received her BS’s from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in materials engineering her MS from George Mason University in chemistry, and her PhD from the University of Arizona in materials science and engineering. Upon completion of her PhD, she became a postdoctoral research associate in the ceramics department of the Jozef Stefan Institute (IJS), in Ljubljana, Slovenia. She then joined the Materials Science and Technology Division at ORNL with the Oak Ridge Associated Universities Postdoctoral Fellowship program. Rawn\u2019s professional activities include being a past secretary of the US National Committee for Crystallography, and she is a Fellow of ASM International.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Michael Koehler<\/strong>
Facility Manager
mkoehler@utk.edu<\/a>
Contact for scheduling activities and hardware questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Koehler obtained his BS, MS, and PhD from UT in materials science and engineering. His dissertation involved characterizing magnetostrictive materials using resonant ultrasound spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometry, and neutron and X-ray diffraction, among other techniques. He then continued as a post-doc, during which time he grew 2D semiconductor crystals using chemical vapor transport. He then became lab manager for the Diffraction Facility where he trains new users so they can schedule and use the instruments on their own, performs experiments and data analysis for any users who do not want to be trained (at an additional cost), and assists users in designing the best experiment for their particular samples\/interests.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/details><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Instruments<\/summary>
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Empyrean \u2013 XRD<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n