Scanning transmission electron diffraction methods

Scanning diffraction experiments are approaches that take advantage of many of the recent advances in technology (e.g. computer control, detectors, data storage and analysis) for the transmission electron microscope, allowing the crystal structure of materials to be studied with extremely high precision at local positions across large areas of sample. The ability to map the changing crystal structure makes such experiments a powerful tool for the study of microstructure in all its forms from grains and orientations, to secondary phases and interfaces, strain and defects. This review will introduce some of the fundamental concepts behind the breadth of the technique and showcase some of the recent developments in experiment development and applications to materials.