Visualizing polycrystalline orientation microstructures with spherical color maps

Spherical color maps can be an effective tool in the microstructure visualization of polycrystals. Electron backscatter diffraction pattern analysis provides large arrays of the orientation data that can be visualized easily using the technique described in this paper. A combination of this technique with the traditional black and white scanning electron microscopy imaging will enable scientists to better understand the correlation between material properties and their polycrystalline structure.<>