Recovery of background structures in nanoscale Helium Ion Microscope imaging, and the use of progressive fractional diffusion smoothing.

Published

December 31, 2014

Author(s)

Andras Vladar

Abstract

This paper discusses a two step enhancement technique applicable to noisy Helium Ion Microscope images in which background structures are not easily discernible due to a weak signal. The method is based on a preliminary adaptive histogram equalization, followed by `slow motion' low-exponent L\'{e}vy fractional diffusion smoothing. This combined approach is unexpectedly effective, resulting in a companion enhaned image in which background structures are rendered much more visible, and noise is significantly reduced, all with minimal loss of image sharpness. The method also provides useful enhancements of scanning charged-particle microscopy images obtained by composing multiple drift-corrected `fast scan' frames. The paper includes software routines, written in {\em Interactive Data Language} (IDL), that can perform the above image processing tasks.

Citation

Journal of Research (NIST JRES) - 119.030

Report Number

119.030

NIST Pub Series

Journal of Research (NIST JRES)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

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DOI Link

Keywords

Adaptive histogram equalization, background recovery, composed fast-scan frames, progressive fractional diffusion smoothing, nanoscale helium ion microscopy, noise reduction, HIM, SEM.

Citation

Vladar, A. (2014), Recovery of background structures in nanoscale Helium Ion Microscope imaging, and the use of progressive fractional diffusion smoothing., Journal of Research (NIST JRES), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/jres.119.030 (Accessed April 19, 2024)