MineralMatchXRD is a program that allows the user to upload a powder XRD (pXRD) pattern and find the best matches from a database of calculated pXRD patterns from the crystal structures in the American Mineralogist Crystal Structure Database (AMCSD).  The AMCSD has over 20,000 crystal structures of minerals, but I culled out those that were at high temperature and/or pressure, and also those that were published before 1960.  That leaves about 9,500 structures.  When you load your pattern into MineralMatchXRD, it searches the database and provides the 50 best matches in terms of the correlation (Pearson's R) between your pattern and those in the database.  Click on any mineral in the list of matches, and you will be shown that mineral's pXRD pattern under yours, so you can evaluate the match.  The table of matches also lists the AMCSD ID# of the matched crystal.  To find information on the crystal structure and publication, go to the AMCSD search page and enter the AMCSD ID# (including leading zeros) in the "General Search" box.  

Downloads

MineralMatchXRD--MATLAB Code and Database File (You will need a MATLAB license to run this, but you can also edit the code if you want.)

MineralMatchXRD--Windows 10 Version (You do NOT need a MATLAB license to run this.)

MineralMatchXRD--Mac Version (You do NOT need a MATLAB license to run this.)

Sample pXRD Patterns  (Look at these to see how the XRD data files must be formatted.  You can also use these as unknowns in a classroom setting, so e-mail me for a key.  Some of the patterns are easy to identify, but clearly have some impurities in them.)

Instructions

1. Save your XRD pattern as some kind of ASCII (plain text) file.  Import it into Microsoft Excel.  Cut out all the extraneous information, leaving only two columns of data.  The first column must have the 2-theta angles for the data, and the second column must have the intensity data.  Select "Save As" from the File menu and save it as a .csv (comma separated values) file.
2. After you open MineralMatchXRD, click the "Load Pattern" button and navigate to your data file to open it.
3. The top 50 matches will show up in the table.  Click on any of them to display their (calculated) pXRD pattern below that of your sample.