Base pattern
A base pattern is an 1D diffraction pattern in the chi format. A base pattern is normally obtained from a software, such as DIOPTAS. PeakPo requires users to have a base pattern.
You may set a base pattern by opening a chi file using the Open push button in the base pattern box of the Main tab. As discussed earlier, it is the best if you have the chi, tif, and poni files all in one folder.
When you open a base pattern in this way, PeakPo sets the folder of the base pattern file as a working folder.
Once you load a base pattern, you can navigate a large dataset by using the navigation buttons in the base pattern box of the Main tab. The step spin box provides the step size for the forward and backward buttons (< and >).
PeakPo also provides push buttons to go to the first and last files of the dataset (|< and >|, respectively). By using the radio buttons, you can sort the file name list by their time stamp or their name. For example, with the Time radio button chosen, clicking the >| push button will open the latest XRD pattern in your folder.
PeakPo can be quite slow because of the several factors. PeakPo uses Matplotlib and it is not the fastest plotting package. Background subtraction takes some time. Making cake image takes time. In order for faster navigation through a large dataset using PeakPo, it saves background and background subtracted 1D patterns and cake images in the temporary-pkpo folder. The folder is a subfolder of the folder where you have chi and tif files.
What this means is that when you open a chi file for the first time, PeakPo may feel slower, because it has to process for background subtraction and cake images, because they are not available in the temporary folder. Once you view a chi file, PeakPo can find the processed data in the temporary folder and therefore become faster.
This behavior can be controlled. What if you need to force PeakPo to regenerate the temporary files? PeakPo provides options for these cases. You may find some checkboxes in the Temporary Files box of the Process tab. If you uncheck the boxes, you will force PeakPo to reprocess those.
PeakPo provides inputs for pressure and temperature in this tab. The large spin boxes are for the pressure and temperature values. The small spin boxes below the large spin boxes are for the steps. The little push buttons near the step spin boxes are the shortcut button for frequently used steps.