We summarize a data analysis approach for electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) which uses high-resolution Kikuchi pattern simulations to measure isochoric relative deformation gradient tensors from experimentally measured Kikuchi patterns of relatively low resolution. Simulation-based supersampling of the theoretical test diffraction patterns enables a significant precision improvement of tensor parameters obtained in best-fit determinations of strains and orientations from low-resolution experimental patterns. As an application, we demonstrate high-resolution orientation and strain analysis for the model case of hardness test indents on a Si(100) wafer, using Kikuchi patterns of variable resolution. The approach shows noise levels near 1×10−4 in the relative deviatoric strain norm and in the relative rotation angles on nominally strain-free regions of the silicon wafer. The strain and rotation measurements are interpreted by finite element simulations. While confirming the basic findings of previously published studies, the present approach enables a potential reduction in the necessary pattern data size by about two orders of magnitude. We estimate that pattern resolutions in the order of 256×256 pixels should be enough to solve a majority of EBSD analysis tasks using pattern matching techniques.
@article{arxiv.2502.11628,
title = {Simulation-based Super-Resolution EBSD for Measurements of Relative Deformation Gradient Tensors},
author = {Aimo Winkelmann and Grzegorz Cios and Konrad Perzyński and Tomasz Tokarski and Klaus Mehnert and Łukasz Madej and Piotr Bała},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2502.11628},
year = {2025}
}