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BUSINESS PROFILE Moving X-rays into chemistry Chemists tend to overlook X-ray techniques in favor of the better-known spectroscopic techniques. Rigaku USA, a company that specializes in X-ray techniques, would like to see that change. Rigaku offers a variety of instruments for both of the major X-ray methods—X-ray diffraction (XRD)—and Xray fluorescence (XRF). The company has maintained core markets in heavy industry (steel, petroleum, cement) but would like to attract other analytical users who need elemental and phase analyses. "People are afraid of X-rays. They think of them as dangerous, but the instruments of all the X-ray manufacturers have so many safeguards built in that they are as safe or safer than other instruments " says Kimberly Russell vice-president of marketing for Rigaku X-ray methods are operationally very simple. Samples, whether solids, liquids, or powders in concentrations from 1 ppm to 99%, can be analyzed witi: very little preparation, thus reducing laboratory waste in terms of solvents. Also, X-rays are nondestructive, making the techniques suitable for samples that must be preserved. Russell points out that because X-ray methods are based more on physics than on chemistry, they are less prone to error. Samples for X-ray measurements can be analyzed "as is" without the need for dilution. "When you introduce chemistry [such as dilutions]," Russell "you introduce the chance for errors" However X-ray techniques do not have detection limits as low
