IUCr 1994 Report - International Centre for Diffraction Data (ICDD)

Dr Daniel Louër, CPD Secretary, attended the ICDD October (11-14 October 1994) and March (20-24 March 1995) Meetings as Chairman of the Data Collection & Analysis Subcommittee of ICDD and Consultant to the Board of Directors. While there, he acted as proxy for the CPD Chairman as the Representative of the IUCr to the ICDD and this report is largely based on his feedback.

The Meetings were held in the new ICDD Headquarters located in Newtown Square (PA, USA). In addition to the working sessions, poster sessions were organized during the two weeks (it has been decided that the collected abstracts will be published in Powder Diffraction). Two general papers were also presented by Dr H. E. Goebel (Munich) in October on A New Multilayer Optic for Parallel-Beam Applications and by Dr R. J. Cernik (Daresbury Laboratory, England) in March on Powder Diffraction at Daresbury Laboratory and EPDIC IV Programme. Among the important news items is the announcement of the retirement of the General Manager of ICDD and Corporate Secretary, Julian Messick, after 29 years of dedicated service to the ICDD. From 1 January 1995, this position has been assumed by Daniel C. Richardson.

Numerous activities were discussed during the Meetings, which were of special scientific interest for the community of powder diffractionists. These were:

(i) The Round Robin on Silver Behenate, a possible candidate for a low-angle standard sample (d₀₀₁ = 58.38A), chaired by T. Blanton (Eastman Kodak). The results have been published recently in Powder Diffr. [(1995), 10, 91-95].

(ii) A Round Robin on Profile Fitting, chaired by J. Cline (NIST, USA).

(iii) A Round Robin on Reflectometry, chaired by T. Blanton (Eastman Kodak).

(iv) The preparation of recommendations on the calculation of powder diffraction patterns and the use of these data for the characterization of crystalline materials. The Task Group is chaired by C. Lowe-Ma.

(v) Discussion on using a fixed value for Cu Kalpha₁ in ICDD products. The Task Group is chaired by T. C. Huang.

Each year, the ICDD provides grants for the production of new powder diffraction patterns. For the Grants-In-Aid Programme 1994-1995, 29 proposals from 13 countries (only 2 proposals were from the United States) were supported, with a value of US $203600. The projected return is more than 650 patterns. The selection of the proposals is based on the following criteria: materials of scientific or technical importance, specific materials needed in the PDF, sample quality, instrumental method used, data-analysis methods used and quality of sample data.

A number of International Conferences were supported by the ICDD, including the 1994 Denver Conference, AXAA in Australia and EPDIC IV in Chester. Crystallography scholarship awards were provided to three applicants from over 43 applications: L. R. MacGillivray (USA), K. F. Peters (USA) and A. Vailionis (Sweden).

In June 1995, four clinics were organized by the ICDD on the following topics: Fundamentals of X-ray Powder Diffraction, Advanced Methods in X-ray Powder Diffraction, Fundamentals of X-ray Fluorescence, and Advanced Methods in X-ray Fluorescence.

Dr J. Visser was named Distinguished Fellow of ICDD by the Board of Directors, chaired by G. G. Johnson.

The above list of significant activities clearly demonstrates the high level of activity in the ICDD and underscores the very international character of its membership and support.

The ICDD Representative to the CPD, Dr Ludo Frevel, plays an important linking role with the CPD and ensures that each body is aware of the activities of the other. The major area of direct collaboration between the CPD and the ICDD at the moment is the joint organization and planning of the Size-Strain Conference in Slovakia in August 1995 and of the associated round robin on size-strain analysis. A standard sample for this survey has now been distributed to a selection of leading workers in the field and results should be forthcoming in the next few months.

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