Crystal Impact

Crystal Impact is a privately held German software company based in Bonn that develops easy-to-use, high-quality software for materials research and science. Its tools support crystal structure visualization and powder diffraction analysis, and are used by material scientists, crystallographers, chemists and physicists in industry and academic institutions in more than 92 countries around the world. The company offers free-of-charge demo versions and brochures for its products, and it sponsors scientific meetings. The company traces its origins to a project at the University of Bonn, where G. Bergerhoff's research group established the ICSD (Inorganic Crystal Structure Database) in 1983. Researching new methods for detection of systematically hidden patterns in structural databases gave the group extensive experience in crystallographic programming. In the early 1990s they developed completely new retrieval and visualization software for the ICSD, which was awarded an international software prize in 1993. In 1997, "Prof. Dr. G. Bergerhoff Software-Entwicklung" devolved upon "CRYSTAL IMPACT K. Brandenburg & M. Berndt GbR". The company still maintains close collaboration with the pioneers from the Institute for Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Bonn. Crystal Impact's best-known product is Diamond, a crystal and molecular structure visualization and exploration program used in more than 1,300 institutions in 64 countries. Its elaborate user interface and large variety of features make it suitable for both research and teaching, and an integrated POV-Ray interface allows users to design photorealistic crystal structure pictures for presentation and publication. Endeavour is a powerful software for crystal structure solution from diffraction data, based on more than twenty years of experience. It is designed primarily for inorganic compounds but can also be used for many organic molecule structures, and employs a special variant of the direct-space approach that combines global optimization of the difference between calculated and observed diffraction data with the potential energy of the system. Match! is an affordable, easy-to-use software for phase analysis using powder diffraction data. The company is led by Dr. Klaus Brandenburg and Dr. Holger Putz, both chemists with doctorates from the University of Bonn. Brandenburg, born in 1962 in Andernach, Germany, focuses on scientific programming, graphical user interfaces, web page design and technical support. Putz, born in 1968 in Mechernich, Germany, focuses on scientific programming, phase analysis, powder diffraction and technical support. Crystal Impact continues to release new versions and improvements of its software packages, including Diamond, Match! and Endeavour, and maintains a reference database for Match! that contained almost 532,000 entries as of June 2026.

Crystal Impact's history begins at the University of Bonn, where G. Bergerhoff's research group established the ICSD (Inorganic Crystal Structure Database) in 1983. While researching new methods for the detection of systematically hidden patterns in structural databases, the group collected a great deal of experience in crystallographic programming. In the early 1990s, they developed completely new retrieval and visualization software for the ICSD, which was awarded an international software prize in 1993. In 1997, the entity "Prof. Dr. G. Bergerhoff Software-Entwicklung" devolved upon "CRYSTAL IMPACT K. Brandenburg & M. Berndt GbR", establishing the company under its current name as a German partnership (GbR). The company has maintained close collaboration with the pioneers from the Institute for Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Bonn. Crystal Impact developed and commercialized a family of scientific software products. Diamond became its well-known crystal and molecular structure visualization and exploration program, used in more than 1,300 institutions in 64 countries. Endeavour was built on more than twenty years of experience to solve crystal structures from diffraction data, designed primarily for inorganic compounds but also usable for many organic molecule structures. Match! was created as an affordable, easy-to-use tool for phase analysis using powder diffraction data. The company is led by chemists Dr. Klaus Brandenburg (born 1962 in Andernach, Germany; PhD 1995, University of Bonn) and Dr. Holger Putz (born 1968 in Mechernich, Germany; PhD 1997, University of Bonn). Brandenburg focuses on scientific programming, graphical user interfaces, web page design and technical support, while Putz focuses on scientific programming, phase analysis, powder diffraction and technical support. Crystal Impact continues to update its products and maintains reference databases for its software. As of June 2026, a new edition of the COD reference database for Match! contained almost 532,000 entries. The company also sponsors scientific meetings and provides free-of-charge demo versions and brochures.

• 2026

  Match! version 4.3 Build 360 released with automatic degree of crystallinity analysis (May 4); new COD reference database with almost 532,000 entries (June 2)

• 2025

  Diamond version 5.1.1 released (October 9); Crystal Impact publishes outlook to 2026 (December 18)

• 1997

  "Prof. Dr. G. Bergerhoff Software-Entwicklung" devolves upon "CRYSTAL IMPACT K. Brandenburg & M. Berndt GbR"

• 1993

  New retrieval and visualization software for the ICSD is awarded an international software prize

• 1983

  G. Bergerhoff's research group at the University of Bonn establishes the ICSD (Inorganic Crystal Structure Database)

Easy-to-use, high-quality scientific software for materials research, crystal structure visualization and powder diffraction analysis, trusted by researchers in more than 92 countries.

• Diamond

  Crystal and molecular structure visualization and exploration program used in more than 1,300 institutions in 64 countries; features an integrated POV-Ray interface for photorealistic crystal structure pictures.

• Match!

  Affordable, easy-to-use software for phase analysis using powder diffraction data; supports automatic degree of crystallinity (DoC) analysis in version 4.3.

• Endeavour

  Software for crystal structure solution from diffraction data, using a direct-space approach combining global optimization of diffraction data difference and potential energy; designed primarily for inorganic compounds.

1. 1Crystal Impact - Software for Scientistscrystalimpact.com
2. 2About Crystal Impactcrystalimpact.com
3. 3Crystal Impact - Product Surveycrystalimpact.com
4. 4Crystal Impact (Germany) - Wikidatawikidata.org