Benefits of Updating/Converting PDF-2 to PDF-5+


You will be more effective in your work!

What is the difference between PDF-2 and PDF-5+?

PDF-2 is a collaborative product between ICDD, FIZ, and NIST and is designed for inorganic materials analyses. Many common organic materials from ICDD are added to this database to facilitate rapid material identification.

PDF-5+ is the world’s most comprehensive Powder Diffraction File™ (PDF®) database with 1,060,000+ entries! PDF-5+ combines both the ICDD’s PDF-4+ and PDF-4/Organics databases. PDF-5+ contains 442,600+ inorganic and 623,000+ organic entries to ensure that you have the data you need for all of your phase identification needs. PDF-5+ is an advanced database containing the data from both PDF-2 and ICDD’s collaboration with MPDS. This database has comprehensive material coverage for inorganic materials and it contains numerous features such as digitized patterns, molecular graphics, and atomic parameters. Many new features have been incorporated into PDF-5+ to enhance the ability to do quantitative analysis by any of three methods: Rietveld Analysis, Reference Intensity Ratio (RIR) method, or Total Pattern Analysis.

While PDF-2 and PDF-5+ database licenses are priced identically, the corresponding license terms differ.  The initial term of the PDF-2 license is five (5) years from the license registration key date.  The term of the PDF-5+ license is one (1) year from the license registration key date.  The PDF-5+ license requires annual renewals, which are serviced by subscription. ICDD will automatically bill and ship renewal products based on the yearly anniversary of the original invoice date.

ICDD recommends customers work with the most up-to-date database. The Powder Diffraction File continues to grow with the addition of new entries each year. Since Release 2018, the PDF databases have dramatically increased in size and technical capability. Below you will find charts and tables that present the new display features, capabilities, and search classifications that have been added to PDF-2 and PDF-5+ since Release 2018. You will see increases in entries, searches, and display fields for the last four annual product releases. This demonstrates ICDD’s commitment and dedication, as a nonprofit organization, to bring the highest value to the scientific community.

If you cannot take advantage of the automatic subscription contact sales@icdd.com.

Did you know?
  • Accuracy, precision and overall quality of reference data improves with time because of ongoing advances in hardware and software. Reference data quality equates directly to the ability to solve multiphase problems. This is due to increased residual pattern accuracy following removal of major phases from the initial pattern.
  • ICDD reviews new data in comparison to the entire database. Quality marks, status marks, cross references and subfile classifications are annually reviewed and upgraded. All data are standardized.
  • New commercial materials are continuously added to the database.
  • Data mining software is constantly upgraded to keep pace with advances in database technology. New capabilities are added annually.
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