To discuss the visibility of defects in topographic images according to theory, consider the exemplary case of a single dislocation: It will give rise to contrast in topography only if the lattice planes involved in diffraction are distorted in some way by the existence of the dislocation. This is true in the case of an edge dislocation if the scattering vector of the Bragg reflection used is parallel to the Burgers vector of the dislocation, or at least has a component in the plane perpendicular to the dislocation line, but not if it is parallel to the dislocation line. In the case of a screw dislocation, the scattering vector has to have a component along the Burgers vector, which is now parallel to dislocation line. As a rule of thumb, a dislocation will be invisible in a topograph if the vector product