Backscattered Diffraction for Crystalline Specimen Assessment

NREL has found electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) to be a valuable tool for assessing crystalline specimens.

$Backscattered diffraction images showing crystalline orientation (left) and grain distribution (right).$

EBSD images showing properties of crystalline semiconductor materials at high resolution (micrometers).

EBSD is becoming an established, fully automated mode that indexes electron diffraction patterns produced by backscattered electrons under diffraction conditions.

EBSD generates maps of the orientation of crystalline phases and can be used to investigate misorientation between grain boundaries, texture, grain distribution, deformation, strain, and other properties. The ultimate resolution of EBSD is about 10–20 nanometers.