Symmetry in electron diffractions from helical structures

Abstract

In this work, we elucidate the regular rule of the symmetry in electron diffraction patterns from helical structures. It is affected by the value of the dominating Bessel function orders for the layer lines and relative orientation of the samples with respect to the electron beam. For Single-Walled Carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), we use analytic analysis and computer simulations to demonstrate that the 2 mm symmetry of the electron diffraction may break down not only from an achiral SWCNT, but also from a chiral SWCNT. Also, the simulation work for B-DNA is presented to corroborate the theoretical analysis.