Recent advances and trends in EBSD technology for materials research

Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) is a scanning electron microscope (SEM)-based technique for analysing the crystal orientation and microstructure of materials; in recent years, with the continuous development of SEM technology, the application of EBSD technique in materials research has become more and more widespread.

Figure 1: Some graphical examples of EBSD results

Development of EBSD Technology

In recent years, EBSD technology has been rapidly developed, the new EBSD detector and high-performance SEM system make the resolution and sensitivity of EBSD technology in the analysis of crystal orientation has been significantly improved; in addition, the combination of EBSD technology with other characterisation techniques, such as the combination with electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), enables the researchers to more comprehensive understanding of the microstructure and properties of materials.

Applications:

crystal orientation analysis:

Through EBSD technology, researchers can quickly and accurately obtain information about the orientation of grains in the material, so as to understand the arrangement law of grains and the weaving structure of the material; in addition, EBSD technology can also be used to analyse the orientation distribution of grains and reveal the orientation relationship of grains in the material.

Dislocation analysis:

Through EBSD technology, researchers can observe the distribution and orientation of dislocations in crystals, and understand the type and density of dislocations; in addition, EBSD technology can also be used to analyse the interaction between dislocations and grain boundaries, and reveal the influence of dislocations on the nature of grain boundaries.

Phase transition study:

Through EBSD technology, researchers can observe in real time the crystal orientation changes of materials during phase transformation, and understand the reorganisation of grains and the evolution of orientation relations during phase transformation; in addition, EBSD technology can be used to analyse crystal defects generated during phase transformation, such as dislocations and twin boundaries.

Strain distribution analysis:

Through the EBSD technique, researchers can observe the distribution and orientation of dislocations in crystals and understand the distribution and orientation of strains; in addition, the EBSD technique can be used to analyse the interaction between strains and grain boundaries, revealing the effect of strains on the nature of grain boundaries.

Crystal growth study:

Through EBSD technology, researchers can observe the orientation change of grains during crystal growth in real time, and understand the growth law of grains and the evolution of orientation relationship; in addition, EBSD technology can also be used to analyse crystal defects generated during crystal growth, such as dislocations and twin boundaries.

Material failure analysis:

Through EBSD technology, researchers can observe the orientation change of grains and the generation of defects during the material failure process, and understand the failure mechanism and influencing factors; in addition, EBSD technology can also be used to analyse the crystal defects generated during the failure process, such as dislocations and twin boundaries.

Material processing:

Through EBSD technology, researchers can observe the orientation change of grains and the generation of defects during the processing of materials, and understand the influence of processing on material properties; in addition, EBSD technology can also be used to analyse the crystal defects generated during the processing, such as dislocations and twin boundaries.

Composite Material Analysis:

Composite materials are composed of two or more materials with different properties, which have excellent mechanical properties and heat resistance; through EBSD technology, researchers can observe the orientation relationship of different phases and interfacial properties in composites, and understand the microstructure and properties of composites; in addition, EBSD technology can be used to analyse dislocations and defects in composites.

Nanomaterials analysis:

Through EBSD technique, researchers can observe the crystal orientation and defects in nanomaterials to understand the microstructure and properties of nanomaterials; in addition, EBSD technique can also be used to analyse the dislocations and interfacial properties in nanomaterials.