Improved high-resolution EBSD analyses by correcting radial distortion of electron diffraction patterns

Abstract

• An integrated DIC method is proposed to measure the radial optical distortion of electron diffraction cameras. • The method has a comparable accuracy with previous studies using chessboard samples. • Various high-resolution EBSD analyses benefit from the radial distortion corrections. Registering experimental and simulated electron diffraction patterns is increasingly used for advanced electron backscatter diffraction indexation (EBSD) analysis, yet the accuracy of registration is limited by several effects not accounted for in pattern simulation, such as the Kikuchi band (K-band) asymmetry, gray level reversal and (mainly radial) optical distortion. Radial distortion parameters have previously been measured with chessboard-type standard samples. Simulated patterns have been adopted to demonstrate the necessity of optical distortion removal in EBSD analyses. However there still lacks an efficient and precise radial distortion assessment and correction method. Here a simple radial distortion model, including barrel and pincushion distortions, is proposed to rectify the diffraction patterns during EBSD analyses. The correlation between experimental pattern and the simulated master pattern permits to index the diffraction pattern and assess the radial distortion simultaneously. The method is applied to three high-definition experimental electron diffraction datasets acquired with different cameras. The radial distortion parameter is identified with a relative uncertainty below 4%. The consideration of radial distortion improves the correlation between experimental and simulated patterns. Gray level profiles of the K-bands are analyzed to verify the correctness of image registration. The current method provides a fast, economic yet precise correction of the radial distortion for advanced EBSD analyses.