ZONES: a search/match database for single-crystal electron diffraction

ZONES is a relational database built from NIST Crystal Data for the identification of single crystals by selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and elemental analysis using Microsoft Access 97 for the personal computer (subsequently converted to Access 2000). The two largest experimental d spacings and included angle in a zone are matched against values calculated from reduced unit cells, thereby fully and rigorously incorporating the effects of double diffraction. A total of 79136 inorganic phases are included with original Crystal Data reference codes, allowing access to all the information in NIST Crystal Data. Specific examples illustrate the robustness of this approach. This database will be most useful to researchers in mineralogy, metallurgy, materials science, forensics and analytical chemistry who seek to identify well characterized phases with known unit cells.