Reconstruction of Kikuchi patterns by intensity-enhanced Radon transformation
Orientation microscopy of polycrystalline materials has developed, within a few years, into an invaluable tool of materials science and geology. It is based on backscatter electron diffraction in the Scanning Electron Microscope. Individual grain orientations are conveniently measured by analysing backscatter Kikuchi patterns, either interactively or fully automatically. A straightforward method of noise reduction is presented which significantly improves the quality of Kikuchi patterns for analysis. The image is not filtered in real image domain, but peaks in the Radon domain are accentuated by applying an intensity enhancement operator, so automated band detection is performed more reliably. A cleansed Kikuchi pattern can be constructed, for visual inspection, by an inverse Radon transform. Experimental results are presented.
kikuchi pattern radon transform image reconstruction ebsd sem orientation microscopy crystal texture analysis