Skip to Main Content

Crystallography: Powder Diffraction File

Powder Diffraction File

UCSD faculty, staff and students should contact tmvogel@ucsd.edu for information on accessing the Powder Diffraction File.


Powder Diffraction File (PDF-4+) contains over 480,000 entries of inorganic diffraction data for crystals and powders, a comprehensive collection of inorganic materials, produced in a standardized format that can be rapidly searched for unknown phase identification. Extensive data mining is facilitated with our 134 display fields coupled with 80 searches.  There are multiple ways to search the database, including by element(s) and JCPDS (PDF) numbers. 

For clarification, PDF here means Powder Diffraction File and not the PDF as in Adobe .pdf files.

For more about PDF-4+, please consult the International Centre for Diffraction Data (ICDD) tutorials.