Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Crystallography

Background:

• Pair distribution function (PDF) analysis is crucial for understanding atomic-scale structures in materials.
• Traditional X-ray diffraction (XRD)-based PDF analysis lacks high spatial resolution.
• Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) coupled with electron diffraction patterns (EDPs) offers localized structural insights.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel software tool, EDP2PDF, for calculating PDF from EDPs.
• To address practical challenges in processing EDPs for PDF analysis.
• To enable accurate structural analysis of both periodic and amorphous materials using electron diffraction.

Main Methods:

• Development of the EDP2PDF software incorporating a nonlinear iterative peak-clipping algorithm for accurate background subtraction.
• Automatic conversion of diverse diffraction intensity profiles into PDF data.
• Evaluation of the impact of background subtraction and elliptical distortion on PDF profiles.

Main Results:

• The EDP2PDF software provides accurate background subtraction for EDPs.
• The software automatically processes various diffraction intensity profiles into PDF data.
• The study quantifies the effects of background subtraction and elliptical distortion on PDF results.

Conclusions:

• EDP2PDF is a reliable and efficient tool for atomic structure analysis of crystalline and non-crystalline materials.
• The software enhances the utility of PDF analysis from electron diffraction data.
• Accurate background subtraction and consideration of EDP distortions are critical for reliable PDF analysis.