We have so far assumed that the peak broadening is mainly due to the reduction in the crystallite size.

Hence, the average crystallite size was calculated using Scherrer's formula.

It is also observed the peak broadening occurs due to the stress in the material, induced either during the sample fabrication process or during measurement conditions.

We shall now understand the effect of stress on the XRD peak and quantifying their contribution through proper (limited) analysis.

Figure 5.01: Schematic of effect of uniform and non-uniform strain in XRD peak.