Mohsen Asadi Asadabad

By Mohsen Asadi Asadabad and Mohammad Jafari Eskandari

Electron microscopes are usually supplied with equipment for obtaining diffraction patterns and micrographs from the same area of a specimen and the best results are attained if the complete use is to be made of these combined facilities. Electron diffraction patterns are used to obtain quantitative data including phase identification, orientation relationship and crystal defects in materials, etc. At first, a general introduction including a geometrical and quantitative approach to electron diffraction from a crystalline specimen, the reciprocal lattice and electron diffraction in the electron microscope are presented. The scattering process by an individual atom as well as a crystal, the Bragg law, Laue conditions and structure factor are also discussed. Types of diffraction patterns such as ring pattern, spot pattern and Kikuchi pattern, and general and unique indexing diffraction patterns are explained. The procedure for indexing simple, complicated and imperfect patterns as well as Kikuchi lines and a combination of Kikuchi lines and spots is outlined. The known and unknown materials are identified by indexing patterns. Practical comparisons between various methods of analysing diffraction patterns are also described. The basic diffraction patterns and the fine structure in the patterns including specimen tilting experiments, orientation relationship determination, phase identification, twinning, second phases, crystallographic information, dislocation, preferred orientation and texture, extra spots and streaks are described in detail. Finally, electron diffraction patterns of new materials are investigated.

Part of the book: Modern Electron Microscopy in Physical and Life Sciences

By Mohammad Jafari Eskandari, Reza Gostariani and Mohsen Asadi Asadabad

Structural and analytical characterization, in the nanometer scale, has become very important for all types of materials in recent years. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) is a perfect instrument for this purpose, which is summarized in this chapter. Parameters such as particle size, grain size, lattice type, morphological information, crystallographic details, chemical composition, phase-type, and distribution can be obtained by transmission electron micrographs. Electron diffraction patterns of nanomaterials are also used to acquire quantitative information containing size, phase identification, orientation relationship and crystal defects in the lattice structure, etc. In this chapter, typical electron diffraction, high-resolution transmission and scanning transmission electron microscope imaging in materials research, especially in the study of nanoscience are presented.

Part of the book: Electron Crystallography