Shi Hong-Long, Li Zi-An
School of Science, Minzu University, 27 Zhong guancun South Avenue, Haidian District, Beijing 100081, People's Republic of China.
Institute of Physics, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 8, 3rd South Street, Zhongguancun, Haidian District, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China.
IUCrJ. 2021 Aug 20;8(Pt 5):805-813. doi: 10.1107/S2052252521007867. eCollection 2021 Sep 1.
Electron diffraction techniques in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) have been successfully employed for determining the unit-cell parameters of crystal phases, albeit they exhibit a limited accuracy compared with X-ray or neutron diffraction, and they often involve a tedious measurement procedure. Here, a new package for determining unit-cell parameters from a single electron diffraction pattern has been developed. The essence of the package is to reconstruct a 3D reciprocal primitive cell from a single electron diffraction pattern containing both zero-order Laue zone and high-order Laue zone reflections. Subsequently, the primitive cell can be reduced to the Niggli cell which, in turn, can be converted into the unit cell. Using both simulated and experimental patterns, we detail the working procedure and address some effects of experimental conditions (diffraction distortions, misorientation of the zone axis and the use of high-index zone axis) on the robustness and accuracy of the software developed. The feasibility of unit-cell determination of the TiO nanorod using this package is also demonstrated. Should the parallel-beam, nano-beam and convergent-beam modes of the TEM be used flexibly, the software can determine unit-cell parameters of unknown-structure crystallites (typically >50 nm).
透射电子显微镜(TEM)中的电子衍射技术已成功用于确定晶体相的晶胞参数,尽管与X射线或中子衍射相比,其精度有限,而且通常涉及繁琐的测量过程。在此,已开发出一种用于从单个电子衍射图样确定晶胞参数的新程序包。该程序包的核心是从包含零阶劳厄区和高阶劳厄区反射的单个电子衍射图样重建三维倒易原胞。随后,原胞可简化为尼格利原胞,进而可转换为晶胞。利用模拟图样和实验图样,我们详细介绍了工作流程,并讨论了实验条件(衍射畸变、晶带轴的取向偏差以及高指数晶带轴的使用)对所开发软件的稳健性和准确性的一些影响。还展示了使用该程序包确定TiO纳米棒晶胞的可行性。如果灵活使用TEM的平行束、纳米束和会聚束模式,该软件可以确定未知结构微晶(通常>50 nm)的晶胞参数。