Lattice constant measurement from electron backscatter diffraction patterns

Kikuchi bands in election backscattered diffraction patterns (EBSP) contain information about lattice constants of crystallographic samples that can be extracted via the Bragg equation. An advantage of lattice constant measurement from EBSPs over diffraction (XRD) is the ability to perform local analysis. In this study, lattice constants of cubic STN and cubic YSZ in the pure materials and in co-sintered composites were measured from their EBSPs acquired at 10 kV using a silicon single crystal as a calibration reference. The EBSP distortion was corrected by spherical back projection and Kikuchi band analysis was made using in-house software. The error of the lattice constant measurement was determined to be in the range of 0.09–1.12% compared to values determined by XRD and from literature. The confidence level of the method is indicated by the standard deviation of the measurement, which is approximately 0.04 Å. Studying Kikuchi band size dependence of the measurement precision shows that the measurement error decays with increasing band size (i.e. decreasing lattice constant). However, in practice, the sharpness of wide bands tends to be low due to their low intensity, thus limiting the measurement precision. Possible methods to improve measurement precision are suggested.