System and method for matching diffraction patterns

1. A method of analyzing diffraction patterns from a diffraction instrument, comprising:

receiving a first diffraction pattern;

receiving a second diffraction pattern;

receiving a third diffraction pattern;

detecting the characteristic peaks of the first diffraction pattern;

detecting the characteristic peaks of the second diffraction pattern;

detecting the characteristic peaks of the third diffraction pattern;

determining a first similarity between the first and the second diffraction patterns based on the characteristic peaks of the first and the second diffraction patterns;

determining a second similarity between the first and the third diffraction patterns based on the characteristic peaks of the first and the third diffraction patterns;

determining a third similarity between the second and the third diffraction patterns based on the characteristic peaks of the second and the third diffraction patterns;

performing hierarchical cluster analysis on the first, the second, and the third diffraction pattern based on the determined first, the second, and the third similarity; and

displaying the results of the hierarchical cluster analysis;

wherein determining the similarities based on the peaks comprises:

detecting amorphous peaks in the diffraction patterns; and

matching the diffraction patterns based on the detected amorphous peaks.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein matching the diffraction patterns based on the detected amorphous peaks further comprises comparing one or more detected amorphous peaks in a diffraction pattern with one or more detected amorphous peaks in another diffraction pattern.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the X-shifting is done automatically.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the results of the hierarchical cluster analysis are displayed as a dendrogram.

5. The method of one of claims 1 , 2 , 3 , or 4 , wherein the diffraction is chosen from x-ray diffraction, electron diffraction, and neutron diffraction.