Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 January 2013
A previously manually operated film comparator used to evaluate Guinier films has been automated as a film scanner of the flat film type. The film movement is controlled by a stepper motor and the intensity of the transmitted light is recorded as a function of position on the film. A personal computer controls the stepper motor and records the measurements of the transmitted light intensity. The data quality is judged from refinements of lattice constants for α-SiO2 and ZrO2. The powder pattern for Pb2Sr2Ho0.625Ca0.375Cu3O8 and a high temperature study of the thermal expansion of GeO2 are presented.