Ultra-High Frame Rate Direct Detector for EBSD and TKD
- Direct Electron, LP, San Diego, CA (United States)
Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and transmission Kikuchi diffraction (TKD) are powerful and widely used techniques in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for characterizing the microstructure, properties, and performance of materials. However, the limited speed and sensitivity of modern EBSD/TKD detectors remains a limiting factor to large-area, low-dose, or high-throughput EBSD/TKD analysis. We propose to develop a new ultra-fast direct detection camera for EBSD and TKD capable of collecting data at more than 100,000 patterns per second (pps). Such a camera will be the first commercially-viable application of direct detection technology for SEM and will be an astounding leap forward, dramatically improving throughput and enabling new SEM techniques. Since the increased data acquisition capabilities of this new detector technology will generate a torrent of data, this new EBSD sensor must ultimately be integrated in an end-to-end system that is designed to store, transfer, and process such large volumes of data. Such a system will couple inhardware edge-computing for initial data reduction and processing, as well as high-speed data transfer and powerful GPU- or HPC-based software for real-time data analysis and reconstruction. During Phase I, an initial direct detection EBSD camera, based on Direct Electron’s newest-generation TEM direct detection cameras, has been developed. This camera was shown to be sensitive to the low-energy electrons in a SEM and is capable of acquiring EBSD data at a speed of up to 2,227 patterns per second (pps). The demonstrator direct detection camera has been used to evaluate and demonstrate high-speed acquisition of EBSD data with and without compressive sensing techniques for on-chip data reduction. The new camera was also used to demonstrate EBSD data collection at electron energy well below energies at which traditional phosphor-based EBSD cameras are sensitive. This additional accomplishment was beyond the scope of the original Phase I proposal but provides an additional significant capability and considerably adds to the technical and business value of the project. Scanning electron microscopes (SEM) are ubiquitous in materials science laboratories, so significant improvements to the widely used SEM techniques of EBSD and TKD is certainly commercially viable. An ultra-fast EBSD direct detector improves data quality, allows microstructural studies of large specimen areas, significantly improves the throughput of SEM instruments, enables low-dose studies, and now allows imaging at lower electron energies enabling higher resolution and greater chemical specificity. As a new enabling technology, we expect broad reception of this new ultra-fast direct detection EBSD camera.
- Research Organization:
- Direct Electron, LP, San Diego, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- DOE Contract Number:
- SC0019681
- OSTI ID:
- 1578120
- Type / Phase:
- SBIR (Phase I)
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-DIRECTELECTRON-19681; 8583840291
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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