Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A method of analyzing a sample of material by diffractometry, the method comprising:providing a diffractometer that comprises:a source adapted to emit an incident beam with a central axis,a detector that includesa detector material having a detection plane a proximate to the sample of material,spectrometry measurement means, adapted to measure an energy released by each photon interaction with the detector material and to establish at least one energy spectrum S(E); anda detection collimator associated with the detector, the detector and the detection collimator arranged so as to have a detection axis D forming a diffraction angle θ with the central axis X of the incident beam; andirradiating the sample with the incident beam;establishing a plurality of energy spectra; andcombining the energy spectra,wherein the detector comprises a pixelated detector including means for locating an interaction of a photon with the detector material, andthe method further comprises:defining a partition of the detector in virtual pixels, and associating one of the virtual pixels with each photon interaction;establishing a measured energy spectrum Si(E) for each virtual pixel (Pi) of the detector; andcombining energy spectra measured for different virtual pixels (Pi) of the detector. 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the detector comprises a detector having a pixelated detection plane. 3. A method according to claim 1, wherein a pitch between two adjacent pixels in a transverse direction orthogonal to the detection axis D and contained in a diffraction plane (X, D), is less than or equal to 0.5 mm. 4. A method according to claim 1 further comprising, prior to combining the energy spectra, adjusting the measured energy spectra, where each measured energy spectrum Si(E) is expressed according to a new variable (x) which takes into account an energy of scattered radiation and an angle of observation θi of the corresponding pixel, and obtaining an adjusted spectrum Si(x) for each pixel (Pi) of the detector. 5. A method according to claim 4, wherein,in adjusting the measured energy spectra, for each pixel (Pi), a spectrum Si(x) is established which is adjusted according to momentum transfer based on the energy spectrum measured for the pixel, by performing a change in variable according to the formula:  x  =                    sin        ⁡                  (                                    θ              i                        /            2                    )                    λ        =                  E        ⁢                                  ⁢                  sin          ⁡                      (                                          θ                i                            /              2                        )                              hc      where θi is the observation angle corresponding to the pixel Pi and λ is the wavelength corresponding to the energy E, andin combining the energy spectra, a sum is calculated of at least some of the momentum transfer of the spectrum Si(x). 6. A method according to claim 4, wherein before combining the energy spectra and after adjusting the measured energy spectra, verifying at least one multimaterial criterion representing the presence of several layers of material, the method further comprisingforming groups of pixels using results of the verifying step, each group corresponding to a layer of material, where different groups correspond to different layers of material, andwherein combining the energy spectra is carried out by group, such that the adjusted energy spectra obtained for the pixels (Pi) of the same group are combined. 7. A method according to claim 4, whereinin adjusting the measured spectra, the adjusted spectra comprise momentum transfer spectra Si(x), the change in variable is carried out using the formula:      x    =                            sin          ⁡                      (                                          θ                i                            /              2                        )                          λ            =                        E          ⁢                                          ⁢                      sin            ⁡                          (                                                θ                  i                                /                2                            )                                      hc              ,where θi designates the diffraction angle corresponding to the pixel Pi such that the angle between the axis X of the incident beam and the axis Di passing by the center of the pixel Pi and the center of the detection collimator, and λ is the wavelength corresponding to the energy E; andin combining the energy spectra, for each group, the adjusted spectra Si(x) of the pixels of the group are summed. 8. A method according to one of claim 6, wherein the multimaterial criterion comprises one of:a variation greater than 10% of the position in the adjusted spectra of a first local maximum, between two adjacent pixels in a transverse direction (T), orthogonal to the detection direction (D), ora variation greater than 10% of the position in the adjusted spectra of a second local maximum, between two adjacent pixels in the transverse direction, ora variation greater than 10% of the sum of the channels of the adjusted spectrum of each pixel, between two adjacent pixels in the transverse direction. 9. A method according to claim 8 further comprising constructing a curve, wherein the y-axis represents the position in the spectrum of the first or second local maximum and wherein the x-axis represents the lateral position (Yi) of the pixel (Pi) or its angle of observation (θi). 10. A method according to claim 6, wherein the detection collimator comprises an open collimator having a slot with a height greater than 1 mm. 11. A diffractometer comprising:a source adapted to emit an incident beam with a central axis X;a detector comprisinga detector material having a detection plane proximal to a sample material;spectrometry measurement means, adapted to measure an energy released by each photon interaction with the detector material and to establish at least one energy spectrum;a detection collimator associated with the detector, the detector and the detection collimator being arranged so as to have a detection axis D forming a diffraction angle θ with the central axis X of the incident beam; andspectra combining means, wherein:the detector comprises a pixelated detector comprising means for locating an interaction of a photon with the detector material, and defining a partition of the detector in virtual pixels, and associating one of the virtual pixels with each photon interaction;the spectrometry measuring means are adapted to establish an energy spectrum Si(E) for each pixel (Pi) of the detector,the combining means are adapted to combine energy spectra Si(E) obtained for different pixels Pi of the detector. 12. A diffractometer according to claim 11, wherein the detector comprises a detector having a pixelated detection plane. 13. A diffractometer according to one of claim 12, wherein the pitch between two adjacent pixels in a transverse direction orthogonal to the detection axis D and contained in a diffraction plane (X, D), is less than or equal to 0.5 mm. 14. A diffractometer according to one of claim 11, further comprising computing adjusting means adapted to establish, for each measured energy spectrum S(E), an adjusted spectrum expressed according to a variable which takes into account the energy of the scattered radiation and the diffraction angle θi. 15. A diffractometer according to claim 14, wherein the adjusting means are adapted to establish, for each pixel (Pi), a momentum transfer spectrum Si(x) based on the energy spectrum measured for the pixel by performing a change in variable by the formula:  x  =                    sin        ⁡                  (                                    θ              i                        /            2                    )                    λ        =                  E        ⁢                                  ⁢                  sin          ⁡                      (                                          θ                i                            /              2                        )                              hc      where θi designates the observation angle of the pixel i (Pi) and λ is the wavelength corresponding to the energy E, andthe combining means are adapted to sum spectra so adjusted. 16. A diffractometer according to claim 11, wherein the detector material comprises a semiconductor detector material. 17. A diffractometer according to claim 11, wherein the diffraction angle θ is between 2° and 10°. 18. A diffractometer according to claim 17, wherein the diffraction angle θ is between 3° and 6°. 19. A diffractometer according to claim 11, wherein the source comprises a polychromatic source, and producing radiation having a maximum energy of between 10 and 200 keV. 20. A diffractometer according to claim 11, wherein the detection collimator includes a single rectangular slot having a height of 0.2 mm and a length of 2.5 mm. 21. A diffractometer according to claim 11 further comprising:means for verifying the fulfillment of at least one multimaterial criterion, representing the presence of several layers of materials,means for forming groups of pixels, each group corresponding to a layer of material, different groups corresponding to different layers of material,wherein the combining means are adapted to combine spectra by group, such that for each group, the spectra obtained are combined for the pixels of the group. 22. A diffractometer according to claim 21, wherein:the means for verifying at least one multimaterial criterion are adapted to establish a curve representing the position of a first local maximum in the adjusted spectrum of a pixel Pi, along the y-axis, according to, along the x-axis, an angle of diffraction θi of the pixel Pi or a lateral position Yi thereof defined as being a coordinate of the pixel Pi in a transverse direction (T), orthogonal to the detection axis D and contained in a detection plane (X,D),the means for forming groups of pixels are adapted to group together within the same group two adjacent pixels Pi and Pi+1 in the transverse direction if and only if the difference between the position of the first local maximum in the spectrum of the pixel Pi and the position of the first local maximum in the spectrum of the pixel Pi+1 do not vary by more than 10%. 23. A diffractometer according to claim 21, wherein the detection collimator comprises an open collimator including a slot having a height (h) greater than 1 mm. 24. A method according to claim 1, wherein a pitch between two adjacent pixels in a transverse direction orthogonal to the detection axis and contained in a diffraction plane is less than or equal to 0.2°. 25. A diffractometer according to one of claim 12, wherein the pitch between two adjacent pixels in a transverse direction orthogonal to the detection axis D and contained in a diffraction plane (X, D), is less than or equal to 0.2°.