Kikuchi lines are patterns of electrons formed by scattering. They pair up to form bands in electron diffraction from single crystal specimens, there to serve as "roads in orientation-space" for microscopists uncertain of what they are looking at. In transmission electron microscopes, they are easily seen in diffraction from regions of the specimen thick enough for multiple scattering. [1] Unlike diffraction spots, which blink on and off as one tilts the crystal, Kikuchi bands mark orientation space with well-defined intersections (called zones or poles) as well as paths connecting one intersection to the next.
Experimental and theoretical maps of Kikuchi band geometry, as well as their direct-space analogs e.g. bend contours, electron channeling patterns, and fringe visibility maps are increasingly useful tools in electron microscopy of crystalline and nanocrystalline materials. [2] Because each Kikuchi line is associated with Bragg diffraction from one side of a single set of lattice planes, these lines can be labeled with the same Miller or reciprocal-lattice indices that are used to identify individual diffraction spots. Kikuchi band intersections, or zones, on the other hand are indexed with direct-lattice indices i.e. indices which represent integer multiples of the lattice basis vectors a, b and c.
Kikuchi lines are formed in diffraction patterns by diffusely scattered electrons, e.g. as a result of thermal atom vibrations. [3] The main features of their geometry can be deduced from a simple elastic mechanism proposed in 1928 by Seishi Kikuchi, [4] although the dynamical theory of diffuse inelastic scattering is needed to understand them quantitatively. [5]
In x-ray scattering, these lines are referred to as Kossel lines [6] (named after Walther Kossel).
The figure on the left shows the Kikuchi lines leading to a silicon [100] zone, taken with the beam direction approximately 7.9° away from the zone along the (004) Kikuchi band. The dynamic range in the image is so large that only portions of the film are not overexposed. Kikuchi lines are much easier to follow with dark-adapted eyes on a fluorescent screen, than they are to capture unmoving on paper or film, even though eyes and photographic media both have a roughly logarithmic response to illumination intensity. Fully quantitative work on such diffraction features is therefore assisted by the large linear dynamic range of CCD detectors. [7]
This image subtends an angular range of over 10° and required use of a shorter than usual camera length L. The Kikuchi band widths themselves (roughly λL/d where λ/d is approximately twice the Bragg angle for the corresponding plane) are well under 1°, because the wavelength λ of electrons (about 1.97 picometres in this case) is much less than the lattice plane d-spacing itself. For comparison, the d-spacing for silicon (022) is about 192 picometres while the d-spacing for silicon (004) is about 136 picometres.
The image was taken from a region of the crystal which is thicker than the inelastic mean free path (about 200 nanometres), so that diffuse scattering features (the Kikuchi lines) would be strong in comparison to coherent scattering features (diffraction spots). The fact that surviving diffraction spots appear as disks intersected by bright Kikuchi lines means that the diffraction pattern was taken with a convergent electron beam. In practice, Kikuchi lines are easily seen in thick regions of either selected area or convergent beam electron diffraction patterns, but difficult to see in diffraction from crystals much less than 100 nm in size (where lattice-fringe visibility effects become important instead). This image was recorded in convergent beam, because that too reduces the range of contrasts that have to be recorded on film.
Compiling Kikuchi maps which cover more than a steradian requires that one take many images at tilts changed only incrementally (e.g. by 2° in each direction). This can be tedious work, but may be useful when investigating a crystal with unknown structure as it can clearly unveil the lattice symmetry in three dimensions. [8]
The figure on the left plots Kikuchi lines for a larger section of silicon's orientation space. The angle subtended between the large [011] and [001] zones at the bottom is 45° for silicon. Note that four-fold zone in the lower right (here labeled [001]) has the same symmetry and orientation as the zone labeled [100] in the experimental pattern above, although that experimental pattern only subtends about 10°.
Note also that the figure at left is excerpted from a stereographic projection centered on that [001] zone. Such conformal projections allow one to map pieces of spherical surface onto a plane while preserving the local angles of intersection, and hence zone symmetries. Plotting such maps requires that one be able to draw arcs of circles with a very large radius of curvature. The figure at left, for example, was drawn before the advent of computers and hence required the use of a beam compass. Finding a beam compass today might be fairly difficult, since it is much easier to draw curves having a large radius of curvature (in two or three dimensions) with help from a computer.
The angle-preserving effect of stereographic plots is even more obvious in the figure at right, which subtends a full 180° of the orientation space of a face-centered or cubic close packed crystal e.g. like that of Gold or Aluminum. The animation follows {220} fringe-visibility bands of that face-centered cubic crystal between <111> zones, at which point rotation by 60° sets up travel to the next <111> zone via a repeat of the original sequence. Fringe-visibility bands have the same global geometry as do Kikuchi bands, but for thin specimens their width is proportional (rather than inversely proportional) to d-spacing. Although the angular field width (and tilt range) obtainable experimentally with Kikuchi bands is generally much smaller, the animation offers a wide-angle view of how Kikuchi bands help informed crystallographers find their way between landmarks in the orientation space of a single crystal specimen.
Kikuchi lines serve to highlight the edge on lattice planes in diffraction images of thicker specimens. Because Bragg angles in the diffraction of high energy electrons are very small (~1⁄4 degrees for 300 keV), Kikuchi bands are quite narrow in reciprocal space. This also means that in real space images, lattice planes edge-on are decorated not by diffuse scattering features but by contrast associated with coherent scattering. These coherent scattering features include added diffraction (responsible for bend contours in curved foils), more electron penetration (which gives rise to electron channeling patterns in scanning electron images of crystal surfaces), and lattice fringe contrast (which results in a dependence of lattice fringe intensity on beam orientation which is linked to specimen thickness). Although the contrast details differ, the lattice plane trace geometry of these features and of Kikuchi maps are the same.
Rocking curves [9] (left) are plots of scattered electron intensity, as a function of the angle between an incident electron beam and the normal to a set of lattice planes in the specimen. As this angle changes in either direction from edge-on (at which orientation the electron beam runs parallel to the lattice planes and perpendicular to their normal), the beam moves into Bragg diffracting condition and more electrons are diffracted outside the microscope's back focal plane aperture, giving rise to the dark-line pairs (bands) seen in the image of the bent silicon foil shown in the image on the right.
The [100] bend contour "spider" of this image, trapped in a region of silicon that was shaped like an oval watchglass less than a micrometre in size, was imaged with 300 keV electrons. If you tilt the crystal, the spider moves toward the edges of the oval as though it is trying to get out. For example, in this image the spider's [100] intersection has moved to the right side of the ellipse as the specimen was tilted to the left.
The spider's legs, and their intersections, can be indexed as shown in precisely the same way as the Kikuchi pattern near [100] in the section on experimental Kikuchi patterns above. In principle, one could therefore use this bend contour to model the foil's vector tilt (with milliradian accuracy) at all points across the oval.
As you can see from the rocking curve above, as specimen thickness moves into the 10 nanometre and smaller range (e.g. for 300 keV electrons and lattice spacings near 0.23 nm) the angular range of tilts that give rise to diffraction and/or lattice-fringe contrast becomes inversely proportional to specimen thickness. The geometry of lattice-fringe visibility therefore becomes useful in the electron microscope study of nanomaterials, [10] [11] just as bend contours and Kikuchi lines are useful in the study of single crystal specimens (e.g. metals and semiconductor specimens with thickness in the tenth-micrometre range). Applications to nanostructure for example include: (i) determining the 3D lattice parameters of individual nanoparticles from images taken at different tilts, [12] (ii) fringe fingerprinting of randomly oriented nanoparticle collections, (iii) particle thickness maps based on fringe contrast changes under tilt, (iv) detection of icosahedral twinning from the lattice image of a randomly oriented nanoparticle, and (v) analysis of orientation relationships between nanoparticles and a cylindrical support.
The above techniques all involve detection of electrons which have passed through a thin specimen, usually in a transmission electron microscope. Scanning electron microscopes, on the other hand, typically look at electrons "kicked up" when one rasters a focussed electron beam across a thick specimen. Electron channeling patterns are contrast effects associated with edge-on lattice planes that show up in scanning electron microscope secondary and/or backscattered electron images.
The contrast effects are to first order similar to those of bend contours, i.e. electrons which enter a crystalline surface under diffracting conditions tend to channel (penetrate deeper into the specimen without losing energy) and thus kick up fewer electrons near the entry surface for detection. Hence bands form, depending on beam/lattice orientation, with the now-familiar Kikuchi line geometry.
The first scanning electron microscope (SEM) image was an image of electron channeling contrast in silicon steel. [13] However, practical uses for the technique are limited because only a thin layer of abrasion damage or amorphous coating is generally adequate to obscure the contrast. [14] If the specimen had to be given a conductive coating before examination to prevent charging, this too could obscure the contrast. On cleaved surfaces, and surfaces self-assembled on the atomic scale, electron channeling patterns are likely to see growing application with modern microscopes in the years ahead.
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is a microscopy technique in which a beam of electrons is transmitted through a specimen to form an image. The specimen is most often an ultrathin section less than 100 nm thick or a suspension on a grid. An image is formed from the interaction of the electrons with the sample as the beam is transmitted through the specimen. The image is then magnified and focused onto an imaging device, such as a fluorescent screen, a layer of photographic film, or a detector such as a scintillator attached to a charge-coupled device or a direct electron detector.
Electron diffraction is a generic term for phenomena associated with changes in the direction of electron beams due to elastic interactions with atoms. It occurs due to elastic scattering, when there is no change in the energy of the electrons. The negatively charged electrons are scattered due to Coulomb forces when they interact with both the positively charged atomic core and the negatively charged electrons around the atoms. The resulting map of the directions of the electrons far from the sample is called a diffraction pattern, see for instance Figure 1. Beyond patterns showing the directions of electrons, electron diffraction also plays a major role in the contrast of images in electron microscopes.
In many areas of science, Bragg's law, Wulff–Bragg's condition, or Laue–Bragg interference are a special case of Laue diffraction, giving the angles for coherent scattering of waves from a large crystal lattice. It describes how the superposition of wave fronts scattered by lattice planes leads to a strict relation between the wavelength and scattering angle. This law was initially formulated for X-rays, but it also applies to all types of matter waves including neutron and electron waves if there are a large number of atoms, as well as visible light with artificial periodic microscale lattices.
Reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) is a technique used to characterize the surface of crystalline materials. RHEED systems gather information only from the surface layer of the sample, which distinguishes RHEED from other materials characterization methods that also rely on diffraction of high-energy electrons. Transmission electron microscopy, another common electron diffraction method samples mainly the bulk of the sample due to the geometry of the system, although in special cases it can provide surface information. Low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) is also surface sensitive, but LEED achieves surface sensitivity through the use of low energy electrons.
Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) is a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technique used to study the crystallographic structure of materials. EBSD is carried out in a scanning electron microscope equipped with an EBSD detector comprising at least a phosphorescent screen, a compact lens and a low-light camera. In the microscope an incident beam of electrons hits a tilted sample. As backscattered electrons leave the sample, they interact with the atoms and are both elastically diffracted and lose energy, leaving the sample at various scattering angles before reaching the phosphor screen forming Kikuchi patterns (EBSPs). The EBSD spatial resolution depends on many factors, including the nature of the material under study and the sample preparation. They can be indexed to provide information about the material's grain structure, grain orientation, and phase at the micro-scale. EBSD is used for impurities and defect studies, plastic deformation, and statistical analysis for average misorientation, grain size, and crystallographic texture. EBSD can also be combined with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), cathodoluminescence (CL), and wavelength-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (WDS) for advanced phase identification and materials discovery.
A scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) is a type of transmission electron microscope (TEM). Pronunciation is [stɛm] or [ɛsti:i:ɛm]. As with a conventional transmission electron microscope (CTEM), images are formed by electrons passing through a sufficiently thin specimen. However, unlike CTEM, in STEM the electron beam is focused to a fine spot which is then scanned over the sample in a raster illumination system constructed so that the sample is illuminated at each point with the beam parallel to the optical axis. The rastering of the beam across the sample makes STEM suitable for analytical techniques such as Z-contrast annular dark-field imaging, and spectroscopic mapping by energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, or electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). These signals can be obtained simultaneously, allowing direct correlation of images and spectroscopic data.
Powder diffraction is a scientific technique using X-ray, neutron, or electron diffraction on powder or microcrystalline samples for structural characterization of materials. An instrument dedicated to performing such powder measurements is called a powder diffractometer.
Selected area (electron) diffraction is a crystallographic experimental technique typically performed using a transmission electron microscope (TEM). It is a specific case of electron diffraction used primarily in material science and solid state physics as one of the most common experimental techniques. Especially with appropriate analytical software, SAD patterns (SADP) can be used to determine crystal orientation, measure lattice constants or examine its defects.
X-ray optics is the branch of optics dealing with X-rays, rather than visible light. It deals with focusing and other ways of manipulating the X-ray beams for research techniques such as X-ray diffraction, X-ray crystallography, X-ray fluorescence, small-angle X-ray scattering, X-ray microscopy, X-ray phase-contrast imaging, and X-ray astronomy.
The dynamical theory of diffraction describes the interaction of waves with a regular lattice. The wave fields traditionally described are X-rays, neutrons or electrons and the regular lattice are atomic crystal structures or nanometer-scale multi-layers or self-arranged systems. In a wider sense, similar treatment is related to the interaction of light with optical band-gap materials or related wave problems in acoustics. The sections below deal with dynamical diffraction of X-rays.
Dark-field microscopy describes microscopy methods, in both light and electron microscopy, which exclude the unscattered beam from the image. Consequently, the field around the specimen is generally dark.
Diffraction topography is a imaging technique based on Bragg diffraction. Diffraction topographic images ("topographies") record the intensity profile of a beam of X-rays diffracted by a crystal. A topography thus represents a two-dimensional spatial intensity mapping (image) of the X-rays diffracted in a specific direction, so regions which diffract substantially will appear brighter than those which do not. This is equivalent to the spatial fine structure of a Laue reflection. Topographs often reveal the irregularities in a non-ideal crystal lattice. X-ray diffraction topography is one variant of X-ray imaging, making use of diffraction contrast rather than absorption contrast which is usually used in radiography and computed tomography (CT). Topography is exploited to a lesser extent with neutrons, and is the same concept as dark field imaging in an electron microscope.
Low-energy electron microscopy, or LEEM, is an analytical surface science technique used to image atomically clean surfaces, atom-surface interactions, and thin (crystalline) films. In LEEM, high-energy electrons are emitted from an electron gun, focused using a set of condenser optics, and sent through a magnetic beam deflector. The “fast” electrons travel through an objective lens and begin decelerating to low energies near the sample surface because the sample is held at a potential near that of the gun. The low-energy electrons are now termed “surface-sensitive” and the near-surface sampling depth can be varied by tuning the energy of the incident electrons. The low-energy elastically backscattered electrons travel back through the objective lens, reaccelerate to the gun voltage, and pass through the beam separator again. However, now the electrons travel away from the condenser optics and into the projector lenses. Imaging of the back focal plane of the objective lens into the object plane of the projector lens produces a diffraction pattern at the imaging plane and recorded in a number of different ways. The intensity distribution of the diffraction pattern will depend on the periodicity at the sample surface and is a direct result of the wave nature of the electrons. One can produce individual images of the diffraction pattern spot intensities by turning off the intermediate lens and inserting a contrast aperture in the back focal plane of the objective lens, thus allowing for real-time observations of dynamic processes at surfaces. Such phenomena include : tomography, phase transitions, adsorption, reaction, segregation, thin film growth, etching, strain relief, sublimation, and magnetic microstructure. These investigations are only possible because of the accessibility of the sample; allowing for a wide variety of in situ studies over a wide temperature range. LEEM was invented by Ernst Bauer in 1962; however, not fully developed until 1985.
A crystallographic database is a database specifically designed to store information about the structure of molecules and crystals. Crystals are solids having, in all three dimensions of space, a regularly repeating arrangement of atoms, ions, or molecules. They are characterized by symmetry, morphology, and directionally dependent physical properties. A crystal structure describes the arrangement of atoms, ions, or molecules in a crystal..
Zone axis, a term sometimes used to refer to "high-symmetry" orientations in a crystal, most generally refers to any direction referenced to the direct lattice of a crystal in three dimensions. It is therefore indexed with direct lattice indices, instead of with Miller indices.
Precession electron diffraction (PED) is a specialized method to collect electron diffraction patterns in a transmission electron microscope (TEM). By rotating (precessing) a tilted incident electron beam around the central axis of the microscope, a PED pattern is formed by integration over a collection of diffraction conditions. This produces a quasi-kinematical diffraction pattern that is more suitable as input into direct methods algorithms to determine the crystal structure of the sample.
Convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED) is an electron diffraction technique where a convergent or divergent beam of electrons is used to study materials.
4D scanning transmission electron microscopy is a subset of scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) which utilizes a pixelated electron detector to capture a convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED) pattern at each scan location. This technique captures a 2 dimensional reciprocal space image associated with each scan point as the beam rasters across a 2 dimensional region in real space, hence the name 4D STEM. Its development was enabled by evolution in STEM detectors and improvements computational power. The technique has applications in visual diffraction imaging, phase orientation and strain mapping, phase contrast analysis, among others.
Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction (TKD), also sometimes called transmission-electron backscatter diffraction (t-EBSD), is a method for orientation mapping at the nanoscale. It’s used for analysing the microstructures of thin transmission electron microscopy (TEM) specimens in the scanning electron microscope (SEM). This technique has been widely utilised in the characterization of nano-crystalline materials, including oxides, superconductors, and metallic alloys.
Weak beam dark field (WBDF) microscopy is a type of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) dark field imaging technique that allows for the visualization of crystal defects with high resolution and contrast. Specifically, the technique is mainly used to study crystal defects such as dislocations, stacking faults, and interfaces in crystalline materials. WBDF is a valuable tool for studying the microstructure of materials, as it can provide detailed information about the nature and distribution of defects in crystals. These characteristics can have a significant impact on material properties such as strength, ductility, and corrosion resistance.