A method for avoiding errors in measurements of dislocation density in specimens with a high dislocation density

Abstract

The measurement of dislocation density from electron microscope images of dislocations is an important tool in the hands of the materials scientist. Weak beam images are often chosen for this purpose. In cases where the dislocation density is high, there is a strong possibility that the imaging electrons propagating through the thin foil would encounter several dislocations before emerging from the bottom surface. A question which arises is what effect this may have on image contrast and whether this affects measurements of dislocation density.The authors of this paper have addressed this question by examining the contrast obtained in the case where two dislocations overlap so that the imaging electrons encounter two dislocations before reaching the bottom surface of the specimen. The details of these calculations are presented elsewhere and will not be repeated here. For purposes of this paper, the results can be summarized by stating that, for certain diffraction conditions and dislocation separations, the contrast exhibited by the overlapping dislocation configuration is very weak with the result that the dislocations would not be observed.