Electron backscatter diffraction technique (EBSD)

• Subject Area: Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry
• Term: Funded in 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 432915371

The input data in both, field and experimental, geomaterial research directions are chemical compositions of mineral phases as well as the crystalline structure and crystallographic orientation of the mineral phases. The EBSD technique, complementary to the EMPA chemical analyses, enables crystallographic measurements of individual minerals or synthetic materials down to a nanometer scale. The EBSD technique, requested here, will be used for following microstructural characterizations: Spatial information that can be visualized in maps and images with a spatial resolution of 3 nm; Visualization of the microstructure for grain sizes, grain and subgrain formation and phase distribution; Visualization of the local crystal structure and crystal misorientations with a lateral resolution of> 20 nm; Universal crystallographic texture determination of natural and synthetic materials; In situ stress determination and the innovative HR-EBSD analysis; Detection of radiation damage in radioactive minerals (metamictization); Mineralogical identification of very small phases using their diffraction pattern.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Electron backscatter diffraction technique (EBSD)
• Instrumentation Group: 4040 Röntgenmikrosonden
• Applicant Institution: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
• Leader: Professorin Dr. Lucie Tajcmanova