A new instrument that significantly enhances chemistry, physics, and engineering research capabilities, a Rigaku Smart Lab SE X-ray diffractometer (XRD) will allow researchers to “see inside” opaque materials at an atomic level.

It directs a beam of X-rays at a material and measures how the radiation is scattered to determine how its atoms are arranged. The instrument enables researchers to examine a material’s surfaces, layers, and internal structures without damaging the material.

“Advanced X-ray diffraction instruments are rarely found at small liberal arts colleges. Having this capability on campus enriches our students’ coursework and expands opportunities for them to participate directly in cutting-edge research,” says Associate Professor of Physics Hillary Smith.

After the measurement is collected, computer software analyzes the diffraction pattern and compares it with databases of thousands of known materials to help identify the structure and composition.

Funded by the National Science Foundation’s Major Research Instrumentation Program, the XRD will be used extensively in research, research training, and teaching, providing students with necessary, hands-on experience in advanced instrumentation and better positioning them to continue their education in graduate school and begin careers in industry, says Smith.

“We are thrilled to have received funding from the NSF to acquire a new state-of-the-art XRD instrument, which will significantly enhance the quality of experiments we can perform and enable us to equip Swarthmore students with foundational knowledge and advanced technical skills,” says Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Kathryn Riley ’10.

XRDs are used across many fields including chemistry, geology, engineering, and materials science. It will provide most students earning degrees in physics, chemistry, and engineering with an introduction to X-ray diffractometry through coursework.

The College’s previous XRD was about 25 years old and did not allow researchers to see inside the instrument as it worked. The new XRD has a leaded glass window that allows students to see the armatures of the instrument move as images of the material at various angles are captured.

A contingent of faculty and staff — including Riley, Smith, Physics & Astronomy Project Scientist Eric Novak, Physics & Astronomy Electronics & Computer Coordinator Paul Jacobs, Chemistry Scientific Instrumentation Specialist Ian McGarvey, and members of the College’s Purchasing Department — contributed to the yearslong acquisition process of the XRD. 

The XRD arrived on campus in May 2025, just after a full renovation of Science Center Laboratory 50 to ensure its suitability for housing this state-of-the-art instrument. Students began training on operating the XRD and collecting results immediately. 

So far, it has been utilized in physics, chemistry, and engineering classes, including Visiting Assistant Professor of Engineering Kristine Loh’s Fundamentals of Materials Engineering.

Loh’s students ran scans of powdered quartz, amethyst, and silicon dioxide beads (found in “silica packets”) to analyze the similarities and differences of the substances. Quartz and amethyst, though different in color, are actually the same crystal, says Loh, which is confirmed at the atomic level through the XRD measurements.

The XRD will directly advance core research in nanomaterials, energy storage materials, and glass science. Smith’s lab uses XRD analysis for two major research projects, sodium ion batteries and the investigation of glasses and the crystallization of glass-forming liquids.

Riley’s research group develops analytical chemistry tools to study the complex transformations of engineered nanomaterials in biological and environmental matrices. For example, studying the transformation of silver nanomaterials embedded within textiles. The XRD will also be used to study the attachment of nanoplastic and microplastic materials to natural colloids like clay and silica.

This spring, Smith and Riley unveiled the instrument to campus, inviting faculty from other local colleges and offering demonstrations to students, faculty, and staff and explaining how the XRD works. 

At the March ceremony, Smith thanked colleagues across campus who played critical roles in securing the grant funding and preparing the space for the new instrument, including Eric Novak, physics & astronomy project scientist; Andy Feick, associate vice president of sustainable facilities operations; Mary Ciurlino, associate project manager/interior designer; Tom Cochrane, senior project manager; Chris Kane, director of procurement; David Foreman, executive director of grants & awards; Michelle Crouch '07, associate director of proposal development; Christy Brydges, grant accountant; Monica Davis, assistant director of institutional relations; and Cat Norris, associate dean of the faculty for academic programs and research and associate professor of psychology. 

“In addition to advancing undergraduate research, the new XRD instrument will enable faculty across the natural sciences and engineering to enhance our curriculum through the incorporation of cutting-edge technology for materials characterization,” says Riley.

“From courses ranging from Mechanics of Solids in Engineering to Advanced Laboratories in Chemistry and Physics, the XRD instrument will provide an opportunity for students to collect and analyze data that supports the development of foundational knowledge related to atomic and molecular structure,” says Riley. “Students will also have the opportunity to use the XRD instrument to explore the application of materials science in real-world contexts, for example, to identify nanoscale active ingredients in commercial sunscreens or to identify unknown compounds in pharmaceutical products.”

Riley emphasized how well suited XRD technology is to a liberal arts education as it provides the ability to evaluate atomic and molecular-level details about materials and because of its broad applicability to seemingly disparate fields.

“Many of our advanced teaching laboratories in the division include self-designed laboratory projects for which the XRD instrument could be beneficial,” says Riley. “In a past project in my course, students used our old XRD instrument to analyze the pigments in an unknown paint sample from the Art Department. The project was led by a student who was a chemistry major and an art history minor and provided a wonderful opportunity for the students to conduct an interdisciplinary research project.”