Aerodynamic levitation studies of ceramics at very high-temperature: XAFS and XRD

A levitation device associated with laser heating has been developed in ord er to measure the structure of ceramics at very high temperature by using s ynchrotron radiation sources. Combined X-ray diffraction and X-ray absorpti on measurements have been performed on spherical solid and liquid samples i n a controlled atmosphere up to 2800 degrees C. The analysis chamber was in tegrated with the 7-circles goniometer of the D2AM station at the ESRF. Thi s technique presents a novel opportunity to probe the short-range and long- range properties of high-temperature oxides up to the liquid phase. By stud ying the local structure around cations in oxides, we have shown that the c ombined XAFS and XRD data, deriving from in-situ synchrotron radiation expe riments, contain valuable information on phase transitions, contributing to the optimisation of the fabrication of ceramics.