LACDIF, a new electron diffraction technique obtained with the LACBED configuration and a C(s) corrector: comparison with electron precession.

By combining the large-angle convergent-beam electron diffraction (LACBED) configuration together with a microscope equipped with a C(s) corrector it is possible to obtain good quality spot patterns in image mode and not in diffraction mode as it is usually the case. These patterns have two main advantages with respect to the conventional selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) or microdiffraction patterns. They display a much larger number of reflections and the diffracted intensity is the integrated intensity. These patterns have strong similarities with the electron precession patterns and they can be used for various applications like the identification of the possible space groups of a crystal from observations of the Laue zones or the ab-initio structure identifications. Since this is a defocused method, another important application concerns the analysis of electron beam-sensitive materials. Successful applications to polymers are given in the present paper to prove the validity of this method with regards to these materials.