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The powder in a powder target is really a conglomeration of many tiny crystals randomly oriented. Thus, for each possible Bragg diffraction angle there are crystals oriented correctly for Bragg diffraction to take place. The detector is usually a photographic plate or an equivalent electronic device as illustrated in figure 7.3. For each Bragg diffraction angle one sees a ring on the plate concentric with the axis of the incident X-ray beam.
The advantage of this type of system is that no a priori knowledge is needed of the crystal plane orientations. Furthermore, a single large crystal is not required. However, all possible Bragg scattering angles are seen at once, which can lead to confusion in the interpretation of the results.
