Energy-weighted dynamical scattering simulations of electron diffraction modalities in the scanning electron...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Crystallography
• Electron Microscopy

Background:

• Transmission Kikuchi diffraction (TKD) is an emerging high-resolution technique in scanning electron microscopy (SEM).
• Accurate simulation of diffraction patterns requires energy-dependent models considering electron energies and diffraction distances.
• Existing models lack explicit treatment of inelastic scattering, hindering accurate prediction of diffraction distributions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To expand existing Monte Carlo (MC) energy-weighting dynamical simulations for TKD.
• To investigate the influence of sample-detector geometry and inelastic scattering on diffraction patterns.
• To enhance the quality of indexed TKD maps.

Main Methods:

• Developed an expanded Monte Carlo (MC) energy-weighting dynamical simulation model for TKD.
• Investigated the role of foil thickness as an energy filtering mechanism.
• Compared the band sharpness of TKD with other electron diffraction modalities (EBSD, ECP).
• Utilized a dictionary indexing approach for analyzing TKD patterns.

Main Results:

• The developed MC model accurately predicts Transmission Kikuchi diffraction (TKD) patterns.
• Foil thickness in TKD was demonstrated to function as an effective energy filter.
• The dictionary indexing approach yielded higher quality indexed TKD maps compared to the Hough transform method, particularly near grain boundaries.

Conclusions:

• The enhanced MC simulation model provides accurate predictions for TKD patterns.
• The study highlights the potential of TKD for high-resolution crystallographic analysis.
• The dictionary indexing approach offers superior performance for TKD map generation, especially in complex microstructural regions.