Electron diffraction can be a very useful technique in solving real world structure-related problems. However, electron diffraction is much less widely used in industry compared to x-ray diffraction for several reasons. So far, application of electron diffraction has been limited to large-sized companies either to characterize newly synthesized materials in a research division or to directly support business activities in an analytical laboratory. New materials produced on a commercial scale are more and more complex with micro-, even nano-meter sized structures. Development of these materials on a commercial scale, for example, high temperature superconducting compounds, fullerenes, and giant magneoresistance devices [1-7], has increased demand for electron diffraction techniques considerably. Here, I would like to review how electron microscopists in industry solve their real world problems using electron diffraction techniques [8].

Unit cell determination. Unit cell parameters and atom coordinates of a crystal can be routinely determined by single crystal x-ray technique if the crystal is large enough (about 0.1 mm in size).