A complete comparison of simulated electron diffraction patterns using different parameterizations of the electron scattering factors

The steadily improving experimental possibilities in instrumental resolution as in sensitivity and quantization of the data recording put increasingly higher demands on the precision of the scattering factors, which are the key ingredients for electron diffraction or high-resolution imaging simulation. In the present study, we will systematically investigate the accuracy of fitting of the main parameterizations of the electron scattering factor for the calculation of electron diffraction intensities. It is shown that the main parameterizations of the electron scattering factor are consistent to calculate electron diffraction intensities for thin specimens and low angle scattering. Parameterizations of the electron scattering factor with the correct asymptotic behavior (Lobato and Dyck [5], Kirkland [4], and Weickenmeier and Kohl [2]) produce similar results for both the undisplaced lattice model and the frozen phonon model, except for certain thicknesses and reflections.