HEXRDGUI: a cross-platform open source application for analyzing and visualizing X-ray diffraction image data

X-ray diffraction image analysis has become increasingly complicated in recent years. Mixed modalities, multi-detector instruments, complex samples, and increasingly high collection rates have necessitated better tools for calibrating, processing, and analyzing data. The HEXRDGUI application aggregates various analysis methods under a single cross-platform open-source interface based upon years of research experience at National User Facility Light Sources. By exploiting the commonalities across multiple measurement modalities – including powder, Laue, and multi-grain rotation methods – and by pairing analysis techniques with interactive visualization, HEXRDGUI has enabled more efficient analysis of X-ray diffraction data from a wide array of instruments. Robust instrument calibration workflows that involve the various measurement modalities has, in particular, been one of the most critical functionalities that HEXRDGUI provides. Built upon the HEXRD library, which is implemented using a highly flexible geometry model allowing for arbitrary configurations of multi-panel instruments such as those commonly found in dynamic compression experiments, HEXRDGUI is designed to handle highly diverse instrumental setups. Many types of X-ray diffraction experiments and detectors have been successfully calibrated and analyzed using HEXRDGUI. The application is becoming more widely adopted as beamlines at National User Facilities and academic research groups employ it.