ABSTRACT
The vast majority of techniques for texture analysis is founded upon the diffraction of radiation by a crystal lattice, and so it is vital to understand this phenomenon in order to appreciate the principles upon which the various techniques for experimental texture measurement are based. Radiation which is diffracted by crystallographic lattice planes is able to provide information on their arrangement and, consequently, on the orientation of the sampled volume of material with respect to some fixed reference axes (Section 2.2). To instigate diffraction of radiation at lattice planes, the wavelength of the incident radiation must be smaller than the lattice spacing, which for materials of interest is typically tenths of a nanometre. Table 3.1 shows the wavelengths, in addition to other characteristics, of various radiations which are commonly used for texture measurements. Data for light is included only for comparison, since X-rays, neutrons and electrons are diffracted by lattice planes whereas light is not.
