A Method to Determine the Habit Plane of a Dislocation Loop

The nature of dislocation loops significantly influences their evolutionary behavior and, consequently, affects the material properties, particularly under irradiation conditions. Determining the habit plane of a dislocation loop is the key point to examining its nature using the inside-outside method. In the present study, we introduce a novel technique for determining the habit planes of dislocation loops in the transmission electron microscope (TEM). The traditional inside-outside technique requires an edge-on perspective of the dislocation loop for analysis of the habit plane. In contrast, our innovative method for the precise determination of the habit plane delves into the geometric correlations between the dislocation loop and its projections under different crystal zone axes in TEM without being bound by the restrictive requirement of an edge-on view. It also simplifies the procedure of the inside-outside method. Furthermore, we have discussed the advantages and limitations of various methodologies employed to examine the nature of dislocation loops, as well as the techniques for determining their habit planes.