Spatial resolution measurements of electron backscatter diffraction patterns (EBSPs) in the scanning electron microscope
In the EBSP method the stationary electron beam hits a highly tilted bulk specimen in the SEM. The backscattered Bragg diffracted electrons form the Kikuchi line pattern on a phosphor screen. Since the first EBSP experiments were carried out in 1973, this technique has been further developed to determine crystal orientations in connection with texture development in aluminium. Using the EBSP method to calculate local lattice curvatures in heavily deformed aluminium, the spatial resolution has to be better than the selected area channeling pattern (SACP) method.The EBSP resolution (d) was measured by moving the electron beam digitally across grain boundaries in an aluminium sample. The resolution was defined to be the overlapping distance between two diffraction patterns.