A method has been developed that allows on-line measurement of the thickness of crystalline materials in the analytical electron microscope. Two-beam convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED) patterns are digitized from a JEOL 2000FX electron microscope into an Apple Macintosh II microcomputer via a Gatan #673 CCD Video Camera and an Imaging Systems Technology Video 1000 frame-capture board. It is necessary to know the lattice parameters of the sample since measurements are made of the spacing of the diffraction discs in order to calibrate the pattern. The sample thickness is calculated from measurements of the spacings of the fringes that are seen in the diffraction discs. This technique was pioneered by Kelly et al, who used the two-beam dynamic theory of MacGillavry relate the deviation parameter (Si) of the ith fringe from the exact Bragg condition to the specimen thickness (t) with the equation:Where ξg, is the extinction distance for that reflection and ni is an integer.
