The new x-ray diffraction rotating, anode xray diffractometer (XRD),  tool is now a workhorse for characterizing epitaxial thin films. For IRG 1, the combination of large xray flux from a rotating anode and new, efficient x-ray optics make this tool ideal for characterizing oxide thin films with thicknesses as small as a few nanometers. For IRG 2, the large x-ray flux and a new linear detector enable rapid acquisition of crystalline and amorphous x-ray diffraction patterns. As part of CRISP’s
education and outreach, XRD has been used in undergraduate materials science class.