The invisibility criterion which is the standard technique for determining the nature of dislocations seen in the electron microscope can at times lead to erroneous results or at best cause confusion in many cases since the dislocation can still show a residual image if the term is non-zero, or if the edge and screw displacements are anisotropically coupled, or if the dislocation has a mixed character. The symmetry criterion discussed below can be used in conjunction with and in some cases supersede the invisibility criterion for obtaining a valid determination of the nature of the dislocation.The symmetry criterion is based upon the well-known fact that a dislocation, because of the symmetric nature of its displacement field, can show a symmetric image when the dislocation is correctly oriented with respect to the electron beam.
Experimental investigation of the displacement field in a circular disc drilled eccentrically