STEMDIFF - powder electron diffraction in SEM

Toolbox for 4D-STEM data processing enabling the creation of a single 2D powder diffraction image and its 1D radial average.

The presented toolbox enables fast, easy to use and staight forward method for nano crystal identification using a pixelated STEM detector in a scanning electron microscope. The STEMDIFF toolbox was developed with emphasis on data enhancement and peak to peak resolution because of low pixel resolution of common 2D STEM detectors used in a SEM. The package is prepared for analysis of nanocrystalic samples placed on thin support layer (both on TEM grids; we assume amorphous support layer). The focused electron beam is transmitted and partialy scattered by the sample itself and above mentioned support layer which induces strong background in the data. From mathematical point of view, it is convolution of two independent functions (nano-crystal diffraction patterns, scattering in amorphous supporting layer). It's clear that pure diffraction data can be restored by deconvolution of parasitic electron scattering.

When you use this code in your research, please cite the paper:

Slouf, M.; Skoupy, R.; Pavlova, E.; Krzyzanek, V. High Resolution Powder Electron Diffraction in Scanning Electron Microscopy. Materials 2021, 14, 7550. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14247550