Laser Focus World is an industry bedrock—first published in 1965 and still going strong. We publish original articles about cutting-edge advances in lasers, optics, photonics, sensors, and quantum technologies, as well as test and measurement, and the shift currently underway to usher in the photonic integrated circuits, optical interconnects, and copackaged electronics and photonics to deliver the speed and efficiency essential for data centers of the future.

Our 80,000 qualified print subscribers—and 130,000 12-month engaged online audience—trust us to dive in and provide original journalism you won’t find elsewhere covering key emerging areas such as laser-driven inertial confinement fusion, lasers in space, integrated photonics, chipscale lasers, LiDAR, metasurfaces, high-energy laser weaponry, photonic crystals, and quantum computing/sensors/communications. We cover the innovations driving these markets.

Laser Focus World is part of Endeavor Business Media, a division of EndeavorB2B.

Laser Focus World Membership

Never miss any articles, videos, podcasts, or webinars by signing up for membership access to Laser Focus World online. You can manage your preferences all in one place—and provide our editorial team with your valued feedback.

Magazine Subscription

Can you subscribe to receive our print issue for free? Yes, you sure can!

Newsletter Subscription

Laser Focus World newsletter subscription is free to qualified professionals:

The Daily Beam

Showcases the newest content from Laser Focus World, including photonics- and optics-based applications, components, research, and trends. (Daily)

Product Watch

The latest in products within the photonics industry. (9x per year)

Bio & Life Sciences Product Watch

The latest in products within the biophotonics industry. (4x per year)

Laser Processing Product Watch

The latest in products within the laser processing industry. (3x per year)

Get Published!

If you’d like to write an article for us, reach out with a short pitch to Sally Cole Johnson: [email protected]. We love to hear from you.

Photonics Hot List

Laser Focus World produces a video newscast that gives a peek into what’s happening in the world of photonics.

Following the Photons: A Photonics Podcast

Following the Photons: A Photonics Podcast dives deep into the fascinating world of photonics. Our weekly episodes feature interviews and discussions with industry and research experts, providing valuable perspectives on the issues, technologies, and trends shaping the photonics community.

Editorial Advisory Board

  • Professor Andrea M. Armani, University of Southern California
  • Ruti Ben-Shlomi, Ph.D., LightSolver
  • James Butler, Ph.D., Hamamatsu
  • Natalie Fardian-Melamed, Ph.D., Columbia University
  • Justin Sigley, Ph.D., AmeriCOM
  • Professor Birgit Stiller, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, and Leibniz University of Hannover
  • Professor Stephen Sweeney, University of Glasgow
  • Mohan Wang, Ph.D., University of Oxford
  • Professor Xuchen Wang, Harbin Engineering University
  • Professor Stefan Witte, Delft University of Technology

Revealing crystal structures robotically



TSUKUBA, Japan, Dec 2, 2022 - (ACN Newswire) - Researchers at the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) in Japan have automated a complex and labour-intensive process for analysing the results of X-ray diffraction studies, which are used to determine the structure of crystalline materials. The team described the development and application of their technique in the journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials: Methods.

By combining machine learning with robotic process automation, researchers automated a mathematical procedure that determines the structure of crystalline materials. (Credit: ktsdesign/123rf)


X-rays fired at a crystal interact with the geometric arrangement of its particles and are diffracted in many directions in a complex pattern of rays that depends on the crystal's precise structure. Experts analyse the pattern and intensity of the diffracted X-rays to determine the crystal's internal arrangement. This is a powerful and widely used process for revealing the three-dimensional atomic structure of new materials.

A well-established mathematical procedure, called Rietveld analysis, is used for interpreting X-ray diffraction data, but it is time-consuming and requires manual trial-and-error refinement of the results.

"To reduce human costs and resources, we have developed a robotic process automation (RPA) system that we apply to an existing Rietveld analysis program called RIETAN-FP," says Ryo Tamura of the NIMS team. "By using our new procedure, with the help of machine learning, we have succeeded in performing Rietveld analysis automatically," Tamura adds.

The automation can be run on a personal computer and can reduce human error as well as greatly speed up the data analysis.

Tamura explains that the field of materials science already relies on numerous graphical user interface (GUI) applications to calculate a material's properties, control experimental equipment, or analyse material data. He says that combining this new RPA and machine learning ability with these applications achieves a "closed loop" to automatically design and analyse materials with minimal human intervention.

The researchers verified the accuracy of their procedure by analysing samples of powdered compounds whose crystal structures are already known. The ability to determine the structures from powdered samples is one of the great strengths of Rietveld analysis. It avoids the need to grow large single crystals, which can be extremely difficult to obtain for some materials.

"Automating Rietveld analysis brings a very powerful new tool into the entire field of materials science," Tamura concludes.

The researchers are now working to further refine their procedure to make it suitable for more complex crystal structures. Another aim is to explore the use of their machine learning RPA strategy for more general applications in materials science. The possibilities include numerous simulation methods used for calculating material properties, and also applications for controlling experimental equipment. The success achieved thus far with X-ray diffraction could just be the start for Rietveld robotics.

Further information
Ryo Tamura
National Institute for Materials Science
Email: tamura.ryo@nims.go.jp

About Science and Technology of Advanced Materials: Methods (STAM Methods)

STAM Methods is an open access sister journal of Science and Technology of Advanced Materials (STAM), and focuses on emergent methods and tools for improving and/or accelerating materials developments, such as methodology, apparatus, instrumentation, modeling, high-through put data collection, materials/process informatics, databases, and programming. https://www.tandfonline.com/STAM-M

Dr. Yasufumi Nakamichi
STAM Methods Publishing Director
Email: NAKAMICHI.Yasufumi@nims.go.jp

Press release distributed by Asia Research News for Science and Technology of Advanced Materials.

Source: Science and Technology of Advanced Materials

Copyright 2022 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.

Stock Quote API & Stock News API supplied by www.cloudquote.io
Quotes delayed at least 20 minutes.
By accessing this page, you agree to the following
Privacy Policy and Terms Of Service.