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Tighter control over the coating thickness and composition conserves raw material, and the cost savings can be great when the coating contains gold, silver, or other rare material.Unfortunately, the above-described quality control of platings, films, and coatings which are electroplated, hot dipped, chemical vapor deposited, etc., is very difficult. More importantly, significant manufacturing cost reductions and improvements in quality and reliability can be achieved by insuring that 1) the applied coating thickness is not excessive for a specific application, and 2) the elemental and phase composition as well as the crystallite size and orientation are correct. Stresses and/or discontinuities in metal or ceramic coatings may lead to cracking, corrosion, peeling, or a myriad of other problems. The apparatus and techniques may also find application in materials where platings are not extant.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThere is a great commercial need for stringent quality control of crystalline platings, films, coatings, and coating processes.
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Ruud et al and entitled "Method For In-Process Analysis Of Polycrystalline Films and Coatings By X-Ray Diffraction."FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to characterization of platings, films, and coatings and, more particularly, to the use of position sensitive detectors to provide a real-time X-ray diffraction analysis of platings and coatings such as, for example, Pd:Ni alloy electroplate, zinc galvanneal coatings on steel, and vapor deposited materials. This application is a continuation-in-part of copending application application Ser.