Technology for Fundamental Improvement of an Extremely Low-Quality Video Signal for Use in Fine Focusing and Astigmatism Correction in Scanning Electron Microscopy

This study describes important techniques for production of a series of video signals for use in fine focusing operations and near-perfect astigmatism correction in the general-purpose scanning electron microscopy (SEM) field. These techniques can enhance the stability of the signal greatly when used for focusing. As two particularly important fundamental techniques, SEM image acquisition with priority given to the signal-to-noise ratio and signal reinforcement based on the active image processing concept were utilized fully. The performance improvement was evaluated using the case of a previously reported support system for fine focusing and astigmatism correction based on image covariance. The method is almost completely robust against noise within practical limits and allows for focusing and astigmatism correction for even extremely noisy SEM images. The results of this study may be useful not only in the SEM field but also in many fields that use weak signals.