Three-Dimensional Crystallographic Analysis Beyond EBSD Mapping: The Next Dimension

Abstract

Since the early 1990s EBSD (Electron Back Scatter Diffraction) has been developed to become a mature crystallographic analysis technique at the micro and nano-scale. It is applied in a SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) on samples with a very smooth and clean surface. It provides quantitative orientations of individual grains, and by mapping a larger area, multiple grain analysis, texture, and grain boundaries can be examined. As the useful information for the EBSD technique comes from a very shallow depth in the material (10 to 20nm), it is a surface analysis technique showing lateral 2D distributions of crystal orientations.