Coherent interference effects in SIEM and CBED

Abstract

The coherent convergent incident beam produced by the field emission gun of a STEM instrument allows the observation of a number of unusual interference effects in the shadow images (SIEM) and convergent beam diffraction (CBED) patterns visible on the detector plane. Shadow images of thin crystals display the electron Ronchigrams having a form sensitive to the defocus and aberrations of the objective lens. For large crystal lattice spacings the Ronchigrams show characteristic ellipses of low contrast. CBED patterns of thin crystals show symmetries and intensities which vary with the position of the incident beam within the unit cell. Discontinuities in the specimen such as the edges of crystals show striking Fresnel diffraction effects in SIEM. In CBED patterns they give rise to the splitting of diffraction spots. If the incident beam is parallel to a smooth face of a small crystal the potential field outside the crystal gives rise to strong refraction effects.