Simulating electron microscope diffraction mode with a Macintosh-based program

Abstract

With the recent trend towards to the quantification of electron diffraction patterns, there is an increasing need for simulating the geometry of convergent beam electron diffraction patterns, and especially the high order Laue zone (HOLZ) lines in such patterns. The simulation program is useful in the way that the simulated and the experimental pattern can be compared, and then the important diffraction parameters such as reflection indices, beam directions and lattice constant could be found and used. Here we describe a Macintosh based program, which simulates electron diffraction pattern in the same way as the operation of electron microscope diffraction mode. The program has a control panel with the ‘scroll bar’ control devices for x and y tilt of specimen stage, x and y deflection of diffraction pattern and camera length (see figure 1). The user can change the simulated diffraction pattern by changing the ‘control devices’ with a pointing device such as a mouse.