TEM Imaging Method Using Diffraction Contrast

A diffraction pattern is formed on the back-focal plane of the objective lens when an electron beam passes through a crystalline specimen in a TEM. In the diffraction mode, a pattern of selected area diffraction (SAD) can be further enlarged on the screen or recorded by a camera as illustrated in Figure 3.16. Electron diffraction is not only useful to generate images of diffraction contrast, but also for crystal structure analysis, similar to X-ray diffraction methods. SAD in a TEM, however, shows its special characteristics compared with X-ray diffraction, as summarized in Table 3.4. More detailed SAD characteristics are introduced in the following section. 

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