AI-Driven Structure Refinement of X-ray Diffraction

TL;DR

The paper introduces WPEM, a physics-constrained AI algorithm for stable, accurate structure refinement of X-ray diffraction data, addressing peak overlap and phase mixture challenges.

Contribution

WPEM is a novel expectation-maximization based workflow that models full diffraction profiles probabilistically, ensuring Bragg consistency and stability in complex scenarios.

Findings

WPEM outperforms traditional packages in benchmark tests.

WPEM effectively decomposes multiphase and amorphous components.

WPEM enables high-throughput, automated structure refinement.

Abstract

Artificial intelligence can rapidly propose candidate phases and structures from X-ray diffraction (XRD), but these hypotheses often fail in downstream refinement because peak intensities cannot be stably assigned under severe overlap and diffraction consistency is enforced only weakly. Here we introduce the whole-pattern expectation--maximization (WPEM) algorithm, a physics-constrained whole-pattern decomposition and refinement workflow that turns Bragg's law into an explicit constraint within a batch expectation--maximization framework. WPEM models the full profile as a probabilistic mixture density and iteratively infers component-resolved intensities while keeping peak centres Bragg-consistent, producing a continuous, physically admissible intensity representation that remains stable in heavily overlapped regions and in the presence of mixed radiation or multiple phases. We benchmark WPEM on standard reference patterns (PbSO$_4$ and Tb$_2$BaCoO$_5$), where it yields lower $R_p/R_{wp}$ than widely used packages (FullProf and TOPAS) under matched refinement conditions. We further demonstrate generality across realistic experimental scenarios, including phase-resolved decomposition in multiphase materials, quantitative recovery of mixture compositions, separation of crystalline peaks from amorphous backgrounds in semicrystalline systems, high-throughput operando lattice tracking, automated refinement of compositionally disordered solid solutions, and quantitative phase-resolved analysis of complex archaeological samples from synchrotron powder XRD. By providing Bragg-consistent, uncertainty-aware intensity partitioning as a refinement-ready interface, WPEM closes the gap between AI-generated hypotheses and diffraction-admissible structure refinement on challenging XRD data.