Nanoscale Crystallographic Analysis in FE-SEM Using Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction

Recent developments in SEM column design have led to the ability to produce nm spot sizes even at high probe currents [1], thus pushing the analytical techniques available in the SEM to conduct microanalysis with nanometer resolution. Although the limitations of microanalysis at these spatial resolution requirements stem from the physics of beam-specimen interaction and the volume from which the signal is generated during basic bulk sample observation and microanalysis, use of very thin specimens, similar to TEM, can lead to significant improvements in microanalysis resolution. This approach has been shown to be successful in for EDS analysis [2] and has been gaining prominence for crystallographic analysis using Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction (TKD, also referred to as t-EBSD) with a traditional EBSD camera [3].