The program MSA calculates the diffraction of fast electrons in an atomic structure with the multislice algorithm. The results can be complex-valued wave functions, STEM images, CBED patterns, or probe intensity distributions.
Required input data for calculating the multislice algorithm with MSA are phase gratings in form of files. Since phase gratings are usually calculated from the projected potential of reasonably thin sample slices, the respective files are also called “slice files.”
Slice files can be created by using the program CELSLC or with the Dr. Probe graphical user interface. The files contain information about the size and sampling of object transmission functions, including the primary electron energy, slice thickness, grid size, etc., which are used by MSA to calculate the scattering and free-space propagation between subsequent slices of the sample.