You need to first measure a standard, such as LaB6 to determine the broadening of the instrumentation.  Most software packages (i.e., Jade, TOPAS, etc.) can give you the fit parameters for the broadening from the experimental pattern of the LaB6 standard.

As suggested, by collecting the XRD pattern of a standard material in which the contribution of broadening due to particle size is reduced to a minimum value. 

Selecting the correct "known standard" is key! How does one decide on a "standard" to use?

Pradnya!

• What material system are you working with?
• What instrumentation and optics are you employing?
• What is your ultimate objective, in terms of Nano structural characterization?

Well crystalline Si or Ge could also be used as standard.

"Well crystalline Si or Ge" - What does that mean, Atta?

Small polycrystalline, large mono crystalline, annealed, ground, etc.?

You can buy few millimeter diameter pieces of crystalline Si from all the big companies supplying elements. You can grind it and it is better to anneal after grinding, use this powder as standard. 

Here are the Standard Reference Materials for peak position and line shape certified by NIST: Silicon (SRM 640e) and LaB6 (SRM 660c) powders. Also SRM 1976, which is a solid Al2O3 plate, is extremely useful.

This NIST standards: (1) are free from crystallite size and microstrain broadening and so can be used to determine the instrumental broadening for your XRD system, and (2) provide certified lattice parameters in order to accurately calibrate 2theta for your XRD system.

https://www-s.nist.gov/srmors/view_detail.cfm?srm=660C

https://www-s.nist.gov/srmors/view_detail.cfm?srm=640e

https://www-s.nist.gov/srmors/view_detail.cfm?srm=1976B

If you are interested to calculate the instrumental broadening, you should know the geometry of your instrument, radiation used, slit width etc. For example, if you are using Bragg-Brentano geometry the formula for broadening is

(refer the attached paper)

where is the resolution of diffractometer (2.5´10-3),  is the Bragg (or glancing) angle,  is the receiving slit width (0.3 mm) and is the radius of goniometer (200 mm).

A good friend of mine from MIT shared this link. Check it out! I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it :-)

http://www.bgmn.de/ger.html

Thanks all...

For Scherrer equation, crystallite size was calculated based on the measurement of a(hkl) peak using the following equation:

L =Kλ / Bsize cos θ

where L is crystallite size, K is a dimensionless shape factor (0.9), Bsize is line broadening at half of the maximum intensity (FWHM) in radian, λ is the X-ray wavelength for example for Cu Kα radiation (1.5406 Å) and θ is Bragg angle in degree.

Meanwhile, Williamson–Hall plot was used to estimate the crystallite size and lattice strain of the samples using the following formalism:

Btot = Bstrain + Bsize = 4Cε tanθ + Kλ/ L cosθ

where Cɛ is the lattice strain, Βsize is the particle size broadening, Βstrain is the strain broadening, L is the crystallite size, K is a dimensionless shape factor (0.9), λ is the X-ray wavelength for Cu Kα radiation (1.5406 Å) and θ is Bragg angle in degree.

Then Eq. 2 is multiplied by cosθ to yield:

Btot cosθ = 4Cε sinθ + Kλ/L

Hence, by plotting the graph of Βtot cosθ against 4 sinθ, the lattice strain, Cɛ of the sample can be obtained from the slope (gradient) while the crystallite size can be estimated from the intercept (Kλ/L).

Hi everyone. I found equation 6.7 in the document attached by B. Mallick very interesting. But I have difficulty accessing the reference [224].

Please, help me with more details on how to get the reference. I have attached the same document here too.

Thanks a lot

Pradnya NP Ghoderao Broadening of the XRD peak can be due to the instrument as well as due to the sample. Do calculate broadening caused by the sample (from which we calculate different parameters associated with the XRD of the sample, the instrumental broadening is to be subtracted first.

In this video, I have explained an instrumental broadening caused due to the X-ray source (i.e. due to the overlap of Kα1 and Kα2 peaks). In the case you want to further ask about it, please do comment on the specific video, I'll respond to it shortly. I have provided the practice as well as calculations files here. Thanks

https://youtu.be/238yM0OgaH8

Pradnya NP Ghoderao How to subtract instrumental broadening (βi) from XRD data using origin. I have used NIST LaB6 as a standard sample. In the case you want to further ask about it, please do comment on the specific video, I'll respond to it shortly. I have provided the practice as well as calculations files here. Thanks

https://youtu.be/tO_frVLxmsg