Commentary
3D ED: Accessible, robust and accurate
From crystal to structure solution. The application of 3D-ED to epidote has enabled remarkable accuracy to be achieved for certain atomic positions (0.004 Å). Images of the epidote crystal and structure model reproduced from Gemmi et al.
Understanding atomic structure is key to explaining a material’s properties, but electron diffraction has historically faced limitations due to strong electron–matter interactions and difficulties in accurately determining lattice parameters. Recent advances in transmission electron microscopy—including beam precession, tomography, improved detectors and cryogenic techniques—have significantly improved data reliability. These developments underpin the rise of three-dimensional electron diffraction (3D ED), now an increasingly common method for determining and refining crystal structures.
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