X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) 

There are two forms of XRD techniques: single-crystal and powder. The difference between these methods is scale. As the name suggests, a single-crystal analysis focuses on the exact atomic positions of a single well-ordered crystal, whereas powder XRD characterizes a bulk material sample.

It is non-destructive and provides detailed crystallographic information. It is relatively speedy and can be applied to studying different varieties of materials without major sample preparations.

XRD helps characterize semiconductor materials by determining the crystal quality, doping levels, and properties of thin films applied to semiconductor devices such as transistors and solar cells.

Grazing Incidence X-ray Diffraction is considered a specialty XRD technique that is very helpful in studying thin films and surface structures at shallow angles to provide detailed surface analysis.