title: Calibration-free quantitative surface topography reconstruction in scanning electron microscopy.
abstract: This work presents a new approach to obtain reliable surface topography reconstructions from 2D Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images. In this method a set of images taken at different tilt angles are compared by means of digital image correlation (DIC). It is argued that the strength of the method lies in the fact that precise knowledge about the nature of the rotation (vector and/or magnitude) is not needed. Therefore, the great advantage is that complex calibrations of the measuring equipment are avoided. The paper presents the necessary equations involved in the methods, including derivations and solutions. The method is illustrated with examples of 3D reconstructions followed by a discussion on the relevant experimental parameters.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Physics, Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: E T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Faber
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Physics, Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: d.martinez.martinez@rug.nl.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Martinez-Martinez
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Physics, Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mansilla
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Physics, Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ocelík
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Physics, Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J Th M De
authors.initials: JTM
authors.lastname: Hosson
keywords: 3D; Digital image correlation; Morphometry; Perspective; Rotation; SEM; Stereoscopy