Channeling-in channeling-out revisited: selected area electron channeling and electron backscatter diffraction

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Crystallography
• Electron Microscopy

Background:

• Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and electron channeling offers detailed crystallographic information.
• The interplay between channeling-in and channeling-out effects is often oversimplified in quantitative analyses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the influence of channeling-in on EBSD signals.
• To quantify the crystallographic modulations in EBSD data caused by channeling-in.

Main Methods:

• Acquisition of selected-area electron channeling patterns (SA-ECPs) concurrently with EBSD patterns from a silicon wafer.
• Analysis of EBSD quality metrics, cross-correlation coefficients, and signal-to-noise ratios in relation to ECPs.

Main Results:

• EBSD quality metrics, cross-correlation, and signal-to-noise ratios show significant crystallographic modulations (~20%) tied to the ECP.
• These channeling-in effects are observable in both raw and background-corrected patterns, and even in low-magnification EBSD maps.

Conclusions:

• Channeling-in effects can substantially bias the interpretation of EBSD data quality.
• The presented combined SA-ECP and EBSD method provides a framework to manage channeling effects in SEM experiments.