Methods for Conducting Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD) on Polycrystalline Organic Molecular Thin Films

Electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) is a technique regularly used to obtain crystallographic information from inorganic samples. When EBSD is acquired simultaneously with emitting diodes data, a sample can be thoroughly characterized both structurally and compositionally. For organic materials, coherent Kikuchi patterns do form when the electron beam interacts with crystalline material. However, such patterns tend to be weak due to the low average atomic number of organic materials. This is compounded by the fact that the patterns fade quickly and disappear completely once a critical electron dose is exceeded, inhibiting successful collection of EBSD maps from them. In this study, a new approach is presented that allows successful collection of EBSD maps from organic materials, here the extreme example of a hydrocarbon organic molecular thin film, and opens new avenues of characterization for crystalline organic materials.