Dynamical Simulation of Electron Backscatter Diffraction Patterns

To extract the maximum amount of information from experimental electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) patterns, it is necessary to realistically model the physical processes that lead to the formation of the characteristic diffraction features in the form of Kikuchi bands and lines. Whereas the purely geometrical relations in the observed networks of bands and lines can be explained by mapping out Bragg’s law for the relevant reflecting lattice planes, the dynamical theory of electron diffraction is needed to explain the observed intensities. This theory takes into account the fact that electrons interact strongly with matter, which leads to multiple elastic and inelastic scattering of the electron waves in a crystal. To simulate a realistic EBSD pattern, we will need to model the very general situation of an incident electron beam which hits a sample and which subsequently undergoes elastic and inelastic interactions to result in the intensity pattern on the observation screen. The incident primary beam contains electron waves within a relatively narrow range of energies and directions (defined by the properties of the electron gun), whereas the backscattered electrons have a broad spectrum of energies (due to inelastic scattering) and are distributed over all possible directions (due to momentum changes by inelastic as well as elastic scattering). Because the exact solution of the combined elastic and inelastic