Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) Technique and Materials Characterization Examples

The term “electron backscatter diffraction” (EBSD) is now synonymous with both the scanning electron microscope (SEM) technique and the accessory system that can be attached to an SEM. EBSD provides quantitative microstructural information about the crystallographic nature of metals, minerals, semiconductors, and ceramics—in fact most inorganic crystalline materials. It reveals grain size, grain boundary character, grain orientation, texture, and phase identity of the sample under the beam. Centimeter-sized samples with millimeter-sized grains, to metal thin films with nanograins may be analyzed. The nominal angular resolution limit is ≈0.5 ̊ and the spatial resolution is related to the resolution of the SEM, but for modern field emission SEMs (FE-SEMs), 20 nm grains can be measured with reasonable accuracy [1]. The macroscopic sample size is dependent on the ability of the SEM’s stage and chamber to orient a sample at 70 ̊ tilt at an appropriate working distance, usually in the range 5 to 30 mm.