Determining the Crystallographic Orientation by Scanning Probe Microscopy and Polarizing Microscopy with Use of the FCC Lattice of Aluminum as an Example

The results of studying the crystallographic orientation of surface grains of aluminum when they are examined using the polarizing filter of an optical microscope are described. The surface is preliminarily treated by electrolytic etching. The elastic modulus of individual grains is measured on the surface under study by scanning probe microscopy. According to the published data, the dependence of the elastic modulus of an individual grain on its crystallographic orientation is used. Based on the measured elastic modulus values of each grain and its color under the polarizing filter of an optical microscope, a method is proposed for indirectly determining the crystallographic orientation of surface grains using only an optical microscope with a polarizing filter for this purpose.