Electron diffraction patterns intermediate along the continuum between single crystal and ‘powder’

Abstract

This paper describes a manual approach to the analysis of selected area electron diffraction patterns from samples which contain too many crystals for single crystals analysis, and too few crystals to provide continuous diffraction rings. The approach, which requires that the set of candidate minerals be restricted to a manageable few on the basis of prior knowledge, should be useful in cases where analysis on the basis of spacings only (without intensities) is impossible because of the large number of allowed spacings. An example of its application in the study of interplanetary dust is described.