Reticulography: a simple and sensitive technique for mapping misorientations in single crystals

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Crystallography
• X-ray Diffraction Imaging

Background:

• Laue X-ray diffraction is crucial for analyzing crystal structures.
• Accurate measurement of crystal lattice orientation differences is essential for materials characterization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a method for mapping misorientation vectors in crystal lattices.
• To quantify orientation differences between crystal elements using X-ray topography.

Main Methods:

• Interposing an X-ray absorbing mesh between the crystal specimen and detector.
• Recording the split diffracted beam array at multiple distances to measure microbeam direction differences.
• Analyzing the microbeam array images to derive misorientation vector maps.

Main Results:

• The X-ray mesh method successfully splits diffracted beams into measurable microbeam elements.
• Misorientation vector maps were derived from the microbeam array images.
• The technique demonstrated high precision, with misorientation detection limits below 1 arc second, influenced by X-ray source angular size.

Conclusions:

• The developed X-ray mesh technique provides a precise and effective way to map crystal lattice misorientations.
• This method offers valuable insights into crystal lattice defects and structural properties.
• The technique is applicable to various crystalline materials with different diffracting properties.