Collection of Selected Area Electron Channeling Patterns (SACP) on an FEI Helios NanoLab Scanning Electron Microscope

Electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) has replaced electron channeling and selected area electron channeling patterns (SACPs) for many scanning electron microscopy (SEM) based crystallographic studies, due to the rapid collection rates and high spatial resolution of EBSD. Nevertheless, a number of SEM techniques, for example electron channeling contrast imaging (ECCI), are better served using SACPs rather than EBSD. This is because SACPs offer more accurate orientation determination relative to the SEM optic axis, whereas EBSD typically results in orientations determined relative to the surface normal of sample tilted 70 [1]. For ECCI, determining orientations with respect to the optic axis is critical in order to accurately establish specific channeling conditions and accurate deviation parameters [2].