Prediction of potential pseudo-symmetry issues in the indexing of electron backscatter diffraction patterns

A new methodology to predict potential pseudo-symmetric or systematically mis-indexed orientations for an arbitrary crystal structure is presented. The method leverages the recently proposed spherical indexing algorithm to index electron backscatter diffraction patterns. Potential pseudo-symmetric orientations are interpreted as secondary peaks in the autocorrelation of the Kikuchi sphere. The generality of the method is illustrated using a number of crystal systems, ranging from nickel, where no significant pseudo-symmetric issues are expected, to SrTiO₃, with mild occurrence of such issues, to the olivine series, γ-TiAl and U-6%Nb systems, where the traditional Hough method systematically mis-indexes the pseudo-symmetric variants. Furthermore, the method predicts the severity of potential pseudo-symmetric matches and ranks all variants using a normalized autocorrelation coefficient.