National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of ISO 23699:2026.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee CII/9, Microbeam analysis.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 30 September 2026.

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of ISO document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).

ISO draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a) patent(s). ISO takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO had not received notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at www.iso.org/patents. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.

This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC202, Microbeam analysis, Subcommittee SC1, Terminology.

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

Introduction

Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) measurement is routinely and widely used to produce local orientation maps of a polished surface of bulk materials in scanning electron microscopy (SEM), via the automated recording and analysis of Kikuchi diffraction patterns. EBSD is a modern technique used to evaluate phase distribution, grain size distribution, orientation of individual grains, disorientation inside grains and grain boundary characteristics of the crystalline materials. EBSD is applied across a wide variety of fields, such as in metals processing, aerospace, nuclear, automotive and microelectronics industries, and earth sciences.

This document provides definitions of terms as they are used in the field of electron backscatter diffraction by the international scientific and engineering communities that employ the technique.

1 Scope

This document defines terms used for the electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) technique. This document covers both general and specific concepts classified according to their hierarchy in a systematic order.

This document is applicable to standardization documents relevant to EBSD practices. In addition, some definitions in this document are applicable to transmission Kikuchi diffraction (TKD).

2 Normative References

3 Terms and definitions

4 Terms related to the physical basis of electron backscatter diffraction

5 Terms related to EBSD instrumentation or hardware

6 Terms related to operation or data acquisition

7 Terms related to data display and analysis

Bibliography