Abstract
This study proposes an efficient and fast method of scanning (e.g., television (TV) scan) coupled with digital image processing technology to replace the conventional slow-scan mode as a standard model of acquisition for general-purpose scanning electron microscopy (SEM). SEM images obtained using the proposed method had the same quality in terms of sharpness and noise as slow-scan images, and it was able to suppress the adverse effects of charging in a full-vacuum condition, which is a challenging problem in this area. Two problems needed to be solved in designing the proposed method. One was suitable compensation in image quality using the inverse filter based on characteristics of the frequency of a TV-scan image, and the other to devise an accurate technique of image integration (noise suppression), the position alignment of which is robust against noise. This involved using the image montage technique and estimating the number of images needed for the integration. The final result of our TV-scan mode was compared with the slow-scan image as well as the conventional TV-scan image.
Highlights
The general-purpose scanning electron microscope (SEM) has a variety of operating conditions
According to the properties of individual specimens and purposes of observation, these operational parameters are determined as appropriately as possible to obtain a signal containing useful information because the magnitude of the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) signal is generally inadequate to this end
The slow-scan mode is one of the most important technical features in SEM. It has been long used as the standard mode of acquisition for scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to obtain images with a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and sharpness
Summary
The general-purpose scanning electron microscope (SEM) has a variety of operating conditions (operational parameters, e.g., accelerating voltage, incident current, pressure, scanning mode, working distance, magnification, and detectors). It is commonly believed that integrated SEM images obtained by the fast-scan mode are blurred.
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