ABSTRACT
Imagine an X-ray source so intense that the classical battle between intensity and resolution was no longer a burning issue. Imagine a source where the X-ray beam had so little divergence that, coupled with the high degree of monochromaticity, instrumental broadening was negligible and thus the peak profiles depended only on the characteristics of the sample. Figure 1 shows, for example, a pattern obtained for the NIST alumina-plate standard. Imagine a powder diffractometer constructed to take advantage of this "parallel beam" in such a manner that one could measure diffraction patterns from either very small samples in capillaries or from car fenders, in either transmission and reflection mode. Imagine a tunable source with wavelengths so long that the radiation would "see" only the surface of the sample and so short that stainless-steel tubes can function as capillaries. Imagine a source where the intensity as a function of wavelength can be a slowly varying function, ideal for energy-dispersive diffraction, or can be peaked at particular wavelengths for monochromatic radiation of unparalleled brightness. Imagine no more-get thee to thy synchrotron!
