From October 18 to 20, a workshop took place whose topic was "X-ray fluorescent and X-ray diffraction analyzers produced by Scientific Instruments JSC. New software features. Methodological support. Instrument application experience".

The general workshop was preceded by a specialized practical workshop for forensic scientists.

The technical director V.I. Nikolaev (Scientific Instruments JSC) spoke about new equipment and instruments that were developed after the previous seminar that took place in May 2016.

M.E. Boyko from the Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute made a report "Methodology of X-ray phase study of nanosized particles. Application in practice. Working with nano-objects, thin films and heterostructures. Calculation algorithms and programs". New abilities of small-angle diffractometry in the study of nano-objects were discussed in detail.

The representative of the Technical Expertise Department of the State Hermitage Museum K.S. Chugunova gave dozens of examples of the use of the Difray-401 diffractometer for expert evaluation and attribution of art objects.

E.L. Dzidziguri from the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys spoke about the importance of calculating the size of coherent scattering regions. This new function was implemented in the software of the Difray diffractometers recently.

A joint report of our specialists and N.S. Kurganov from the Department of Restoration of the St. Petersburg State University revealed new abilities of the X-ray microscope RАМ-30μ in archeology and expert evaluation of art objects. We are grateful to our colleagues from the University for providing very interesting research objects.

One of the most experienced users of our diffractometer is N.N. Stepareva, a representative of the Moscow Graphite Research Institute. In her report "Development of methodologies for studying the structure of carbon fibers on the Difray-401 diffractometer", she discussed the studies of objects that are special from the point of view of X-ray structural analysis.

A.S. Bakhvalov (Scientific Instruments JSC) spoke about a new method of semiquantitative analysis implemented in the software of our instruments. Our users will now get a free software upgrade as an additional semiquantitative analysis option.

Our cooperation with the Research Institute of Fertilizers and Insectofungicides (RIFI) that specializes in production of phosphorus- and nitrogen-containing mineral fertilizers has led to development and implementation of production control methodologies in the industry. The report of D.V. Yunovidov from RIFI "Experience of using XRF spectrometers REAN and PANDA for quality control of mineral fertilizers" summarized some of the results of this cooperation.

The representative of the Pervouralsk Dinas Plant A.Yu. Kolobov shared the experience of using the Difray diffractometer in a central plant laboratory for monitoring refractory materials production processes.

Most of the participants expressed a wish to continue holding scientific and practical workshops dedicated to the new developments of Scientific Instruments JSC and the achievements of our users.

For the next two days, the work continued in the laboratories. The classes were mainly conducted by the specialists of X-ray laboratories of Scientific Instruments JSC.

D.K. Goldwirt, a security officer from Norilsk Nickel, gave a master class on working with micro-objects and their study on the Difray diffractometer.

We thank all the workshop participants and express our hope for further cooperation.