Considerations for Multi-Phase and Low-Symmetry Com Analyses

Abstract

EBSD analyses are routine for understanding and quantifying the orientations of materials. Analyses of single-phase cubic materials are by far the most prevalent reported in the literature. However, the understanding of the orientations of multi-phase materials are just as important from a technological standpoint. The analysis of non-cubic and non-hep materials is also of interest to investigators. However, analyses of these materials provide some unique challenges for accurate and precise orientation and phase determination compared to cubic materials. The ORKID analysis system was designed from the beginning to address these materials and analysis concerns.

Single-phase materials, especially with cubic symmetry, do not require any special treatment for indexing of diffraction patterns. Because only one crystal system is under investigation, the algorithm for matching the measured bands and the expected bands can have some relaxation in error limits. Furthermore, d-spacing measurements of the bands are not strictly required because the bands angles are sufficiently unique.