Application of scanning electron diffraction in the transmission electron microscope for the characterisation of dislocations in minerals

Abstract

AbstractWe present an application of scanning electron diffraction for the characterisation of crystal defects in olivine, quartz and phase A (a high pressure hydrated phase). In this mode, which takes advantage of the ASTAR™ module from NanoMEGAS, a slightly convergent probe is scanned over the sample with a short acquisition time (a few tens of ms) and the spot patterns are acquired and stored for further post-processing. Originally, orientation maps were constructed from automatic indexing at each probe location. Here we present another application where images are reconstructed from the intensity of diffraction spots, producing either so-called ‘virtual’ bright- or dark-field images. We show that these images present all the characteristics of contrast (perfect crystal or defects) of conventional transmission electron microscopy images. Data are acquired with a very short time per probe location (a few tens of milliseconds), this technique appears very attractive for the characterisation of beam-sensitive materials. However, as the acquisition is done at a given orientation, fine tuning of the diffraction conditions at a given location for each reflection is not possible. This might present a difficulty for some precise, quantitative contrast analysis.