AZtec Software

AZtecCrystal 4.0

Next Generation EBSD Data Processing

AZtecCrystal is Oxford Instruments’ modern and innovative EBSD data processing software, designed for the new era of high-speed EBSD detectors and ever-expanding EBSD applications. First launched in 2019, AZtecCrystal has been continually developed ever since and now offers the accessibility and functionality to satisfy the novice and expert alike.

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Perfect image correlation

Complete texture analysis

Full boundary characterisation

Instantaneous grain measurements

AZtecCrystal is a comprehensive software package for processing data collected using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). It is designed to have the ease of use necessary for newcomers to the EBSD technique, yet to have the advanced tools required for in-depth materials characterisation and diffraction pattern reanalysis required by more experienced operators.

Interrogating EBSD datasets has never been easier. AZtecCrystal has an accessible user interface that is both intuitive and flexible. Whether you are an occasional EBSD user, requiring instant access to routine functionality, or an EBSD expert wanting to extract detailed microstructural information from your sample, AZtecCrystal is designed for you.

Whatever you require from your EBSD data analysis, AZtecCrystal is sure to deliver. New features for AZtecCrystal include:

STAMP

New ‘Stamp’ tool allows third party data to be added to the raw H5OINA files
This can be done automatically using data in the file name
External experimental data such Temp/Load/Extension parameters can be imported from multiple formats

Crystal Batch

Apply all the processing power of AZtecCrystal to hundreds of map layers in one easy step
For consistent and reliable data processing, ideal for Quality Control

Crystal Compare

Edit and visualize your data stack in one simple step
Link experimental parameters to specific maps layers for the first time
Capture the moment with Crystal Compare

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Interrogating EBSD datasets has never been easier. AZtecCrystal has an accessible user interface that is both intuitive and flexible. Whether you are an occasional EBSD user, requiring instant access to routine functionality, or an EBSD expert wanting to extract detailed microstructural information from your sample, AZtecCrystal is designed for you.

Strain Analysis
Pattern Matching for routine strain analysis

Particle Analysis
Define the texture of each particle

MapSweeper - Pattern Matching
Dataset enhancement using simulated pattern matching indexing on stored EBSPs

Classification Tool
Machine-learning classification of microstructure constituents

AZtecCrystal uses the power of pattern matching to enhance your data. Solve unindexed points, refine the solution and push your analysis to the next level with MapSweeper. Correctly characterize similar phases, improve measurement of deformed materials, calculate lattice parameter ratios and strained regions and much more.

User Interface

Intuitive interface with AZtec theming and shared layout concept
Multiple, user-selectable Viewing Modes to access the necessary analysis tools
Separate project tree and settings panels for simple data and tool management
Main workspace panes can be undocked for viewing on multiple monitors
User-selectable zooming for work on different screen resolutions
Simple switch between Data Analysis mode and MapSweeper data enhancement mode
Multiple language support

Map Display and Analysis

Map display in either tabbed or (linked) tile form
Multiple map interaction mode (including point and grain selection, profile measurement and subset creation)
Compact legend display, exportable with maps
Unlimited, customisable map creation using individual map layers – no limits to the number of layers in any map
Multiple map layers, each fully customisable, including:
- - Pattern quality and misfit
  - SEM image colours and values
  - Orientation colouring
  - Texture components
  - Strain and deformation (including GND density, Kernel Average Misorientation)
  - EDS element distribution
  - Grain size, shape, and internal orientation distribution
  - Grain / subgrain / phase boundaries
  - Special boundaries (including twins and coincident site lattice boundaries)
  - Orientation and lattice relationships
  - Dislocation and weighted Burgers vector information
Separate display of all individual map values and distributions
Misorientation profile analysis tool, with variable width and multiple component display
Map navigator, to show position relative to full dataset area

Texture Analysis

Full, customisable pole figure (PF) display
Full, customisable inverse pole figure (IPF) display
Full orientation distribution function (ODF) analysis
User-defined settings, including ODF calculation and display, density contouring, projection selection etc.
Pole plot calculation and display
Applied sample symmetry option
Data rotation to correct for sample mounting errors

Grain Size Analysis

User-defined grain size measurement
High-speed algorithms – 20,000 grains measured in < 15s
Multiple grain model displays
Grain size histogram display with arithmetic and area-weighted statistics
Grain size number given to ASTM E2627 standard
Filtered grain size list for advanced data subsetting
Twinned grain statistical analysis
Parameter correlation tool to identify relationships between grain-based measurements

SEM Image Viewer – display of electron images with post-acquisition drift / distortion correction

Selection and display of any electron image from the same AZtec site of interest (e.g. forescatter, BSE or SE images)
EBSD map overlay with adjustable transparency
Comprehensive distortion correction to correct of drift during EBSD mapping:
- Simple mode to correct for constant drift or distortion
- Extended mode using co-localisation of features in the electron image and EBSD map
- Correct EBSD data can be saved as a new dataset for subsequent analysis

AZtecCrystal MapSweeper – Dataset enhancement and re-indexing using pattern matching technology

Full EBSD pattern simulation using kinematical, 2-beam or many-beam dynamical models
Rapid image cross-correlation between experimental and simulated patterns
High accuracy calibration refinement tool
Pattern weighting or masking to improve matching for patterns with shadows or strong signal variations
Multiple “sweep” types:

Indexing sweep – full re-indexing using a novel dynamic template matching method
Refinement sweep – uses existing phase/orientation results to enhance data quality:
- Orientation refinement
- Pseudosymmetry correction (including measurement of crystal polarity)
- Phase discrimination
- Strain analysis

Repair sweep – corrects misindexed measurement errors and iteratively removes non-indexed points
Analyses use local pixel geometry calibration for improved precision
All analyses (except the “Indexing sweep”) can be carried out on a regular PC / laptop – no GPU required
Reanalysis speeds up to > 1000 Hz
Multiple applications – highly deformed materials, nanocrystalline samples, high-precision dislocation analysis, semiconductor polarity determination etc.
Find out more details about MapSweeper and application examples on ebsd.com.

The Latest Developments in EBSD Software

We discuss the developments to our EBSD acquisition and data processing including a new guided workflow in AZtecHKL to assist with setting up and running Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction experiments and a versatile new Parent Grain Analysis viewing mode within AZtecCrystal that enables rapid reconstruction of parent microstructures.

Approx View time: 7 minutes

AZtecCrystal Demonstration

Watch our latest interactive demonstration of AZtecCrystal in order to understand the speed, flexibility, and intelligence of the most modern EBSD data processing software on the market today!

Tutorial: Effective EBSD data processing using AZtecCrystalAZtecCrystal Demonstration

This tutorial will cover fundamental steps of data processing such as data cleaning and grain size measurement, as well as touching on more advanced analytical tools such as parent grain reconstruction and the calculation of elastic properties.

Approx View time: 26 minutes

Tailored For Your Key Applications

AZtecCrystal enables fast, high-throughput analyses of any EBSD dataset. Optimised for speed yet designed for ease-of-use, AZtecCrystal delivers the versatility of the EBSD technique for all levels of user expertise. The primary fields of application are as follows, but AZtecCrystal is ideally suited for any application of the EBSD technique:

Additive Manufacturing

Metals Processing

Structural Geology

Surface Coatings

Further Applications

The following are some applications where AZtecCrystal has been used to reveal new information:

Failure analysis in steels and superalloys

Understanding the propagation of cracks through materials is key to designing materials that are less likely to fail
AZtecCrystal provides multiple tools that enable researchers to study the build up of plastic strain at crack tips and to investigate the relationship between grain structure, orientation and crack propagation

Determining prior austenite grain size in steels

In many materials, such as martensitic steels and Ti alloys, understanding the parent grain microstructure is important as it has a strong influence on the final grain size and hence the resulting material strength
AZtecCrystal incorporates a comprehensive parent grain analysis tool that reconstructs the parent microstructure based on orientation relationships, enabling full analyses of the grain size, boundary characteristics and texture of the prior austenitic microstructure

Measuring texture in rolled steels

Texture – the preferred crystallographic orientation of grains – controls many key materials properties and is a critical measurement in most processed metals, such as rolled steel
AZtecCrystal offers all the necessary tools for measuring and assessing texture in materials – orientation distribution functions (ODFs), pole and inverse pole figures, customisable texture component maps and numerous ways to determine texture fractions

Understanding deformation processes in rocks

Understanding the response of rocks to stress and strain as well as to variations in temperature and pressure is essential for an understanding of the processes that control plate tectonics, cause earthquakes and result in ore mineral emplacement
AZtecCrystal delivers rapid results highlighting deformation processes either in map form or via more advanced approaches such as boundary disorientation analysis

Elastic properties of additively manufactured Ti alloys

AZtecCrystal has a Materials Properties viewing mode that can calculate the elastic properties of materials based on each grain’s orientation
This allows researchers to instantly convert raw EBSD data into information about the key physical properties of materials, such as the relationship between build direction and yield strength in 3D printed Ti64 alloys

Grain boundary engineering of electronic components

The electrical performance of components is closely linked to the distribution and nature of crystallographic boundaries between and within grains – controlling this is known as grain boundary engineering
AZtecCrystal enables rapid characterisation of boundary populations, determining the proportion of special boundaries (such as coincident site lattice boundaries) and true determination of grain sizes on the nanometre to micrometre scale

Learn More about AZtecCrystal

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Unlock HR-EBSD Strain Analysis using MapSweeper

MapSweeper Strain Analysis shows good correlation with a much-accepted industry-standard benchmark solution and showcases the reliability of HR-EBSD strain analysis in AZtecCrystal.

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Analysing Particles using Electron Backscatter Diffraction

EBSD is a powerful tool for microstructural characterisation of crystalline materials and has been used extensively in additive layer manufacturing research as well as powder metallurgy and particle analysis.

Coming Soon

New Features for In-situ Experiments and Quality Control

Coming Soon

Image Gallery

The enhanced precision of MapSweeper orientation refinement pattern matching used to calculate and map Strain of a single crystal Silicon indent
Strain at crack tips in duplex steel
Threading dislocations in a GaN thin film
Subgrains in a deformed olivine grain
Complex alpha-Ti grain structure in a Ti64 alloy
Structures in a calcite-aragonite mollusc shell
Orientation map of a nanocrystalline shear band in an Al alloy
Grain size map of a chondrule in a carbonaceous chondritic meteorite
Pattern quality map highlighting MnS stringers in a martensitic steel
Strain around a crack in a Ni alloy. Sample from The Henry Royce Institute, Manchester
Low angle disorientation rotation axes in olivine
ODF showing alpha and gamma fibre textures in a ferritic steel
Pole figures showing strong CPO in deformed plagioclase feldspar

Customer Publications

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Discover More with our Product Range

AZtecHKL

AZtecHKL is a flexible yet intuitive EBSD data acquisition software platform, designed for ease of use and to deliver consistently high-quality results. AZtecHKL makes any type of EBSD or transmission Kikuchi diffraction (TKD) data acquisition a routine task.

CMOS EBSD Detectors

Our CMOS range of detectors all deliver exceptional performance for every type of EBSD analysis. They combine unparalleled sensitivity with excellent analysis speeds, ensuring optimum data quality from any sample and condition.

Horizon 10k Ion Polisher

The Horizon 10k Ion Polisher utilises Argon plasma to etch and prepare both flat and cross-sectional samples. This provides a complementary sample preparation technique that unlocks a new level of analysis for challenging materials.

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