A fast iterative technique for restoring scanning electron microscope images

Abstract

This paper proposes a fast new technique for restoring scanning electron microscope images to improve their sharpness. The images with our approach are sharpened by deconvolution with the point spread function modeled as the intensity distribution of the electron beam at the specimen׳s surface. We propose an iterative technique that employs a modified cost function based on the Richardson–Lucy method to achieve faster processing. The empirical results indicate significant improvements in image quality. The proposed approach speeds up deconvolution by about 10–50 times faster than that with the conventional Richardson–Lucy method.