MICRODIFFRACTIONS CONTRIBUTION TO MICRO-CHARACTERIZATION

In characterizing materials on the microscopic scale, we are interested in the morphology, the chemistry (including composition) and the structure of the sample. In the transmission electron microscope, the morphology is given by normal imaging, the chemistry is obtained from X-ray and energy-loss spectroscopies, and the structure from either high resolution imaging or diffraction or both. Microdiffraction provides the following information on crystalline samples: unit cell, symmetry, sample thickness, phase identification and strain. It also has potential for the characterization of defects and disordered systems. There is rapid progress towards the establishment of a routine method for the determination of atomic positions.