Calculation of the instrumental profile function for a powder diffraction beamline used in nanocrystalline material research

Ray-tracing algorithms are used to simulate the instrumental function of a synchrotron beamline targeted to the advanced characterization of nanocrystalline materials by powder diffraction. The characteristics of the source, a bending magnet in the present case of study, and the optics influence the instrumental profile, which is a key parameter for obtaining information on the nanostructure. We combine the SHADOW simulation with the calculation of powder diffraction profiles from standard materials, into a high-level workflow environment based on the ORANGE software, allowing us to integrate data analysis fitting software with realistic information.