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Title: Smart align -- A new tool for robust non-rigid registration of scanning microscope data

Abstract

Many microscopic investigations of materials may benefit from the recording of multiple successive images. This can include techniques common to several types of microscopy such as frame averaging to improve signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) or time series to study dynamic processes or more specific applications. In the scanning transmission electron microscope, this might include focal series for optical sectioning or aberration measurement, beam damage studies or camera-length series to study the effects of strain; whilst in the scanning tunnelling microscope, this might include bias voltage series to probe local electronic structure. Whatever the application, such investigations must begin with the careful alignment of these data stacks, an operation that is not always trivial. In addition, the presence of low-frequency scanning distortions can introduce intra-image shifts to the data. Here, we describe an improved automated method of performing non-rigid registration customised for the challenges unique to scanned microscope data specifically addressing the issues of low-SNR data, images containing a large proportion of crystalline material and/or local features of interest such as dislocations or edges. Careful attention has been paid to artefact testing of the non-rigid registration method used, and the importance of this registration for the quantitative interpretation of feature intensities andmore » positions is evaluated.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [1];  [1]
  1. Univ. of Oxford, Oxford (United Kingdom)
  2. Univ. of Oxford, Oxford (United Kingdom); Daresbury Lab., Warrington (United Kingdom)
  3. Yale Univ., New Haven, CT (United States)
  4. Univ. of Antwerp, Antwerp (Belgium)
  5. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
OSTI Identifier:
1214821
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC05-76RL01830
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Advanced Structural and Chemical Imaging
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 1; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2198-0926
Publisher:
Springer
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION; image registration; non-rigid registration; quantitative ADF; strain mapping; principle component analysis; scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM)

Citation Formats

Jones, Lewys, Yang, Hao, Pennycook, Timothy J., Marshall, Matthew S. J., Van Aert, Sandra, Browning, Nigel D., Castell, Martin R., and Nellist, Peter D. Smart align -- A new tool for robust non-rigid registration of scanning microscope data. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1186/s40679-015-0008-4.
Jones, Lewys, Yang, Hao, Pennycook, Timothy J., Marshall, Matthew S. J., Van Aert, Sandra, Browning, Nigel D., Castell, Martin R., & Nellist, Peter D. Smart align -- A new tool for robust non-rigid registration of scanning microscope data. United States. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40679-015-0008-4
Jones, Lewys, Yang, Hao, Pennycook, Timothy J., Marshall, Matthew S. J., Van Aert, Sandra, Browning, Nigel D., Castell, Martin R., and Nellist, Peter D. Fri . "Smart align -- A new tool for robust non-rigid registration of scanning microscope data". United States. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40679-015-0008-4. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1214821.
@article{osti_1214821,
title = {Smart align -- A new tool for robust non-rigid registration of scanning microscope data},
author = {Jones, Lewys and Yang, Hao and Pennycook, Timothy J. and Marshall, Matthew S. J. and Van Aert, Sandra and Browning, Nigel D. and Castell, Martin R. and Nellist, Peter D.},
abstractNote = {Many microscopic investigations of materials may benefit from the recording of multiple successive images. This can include techniques common to several types of microscopy such as frame averaging to improve signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) or time series to study dynamic processes or more specific applications. In the scanning transmission electron microscope, this might include focal series for optical sectioning or aberration measurement, beam damage studies or camera-length series to study the effects of strain; whilst in the scanning tunnelling microscope, this might include bias voltage series to probe local electronic structure. Whatever the application, such investigations must begin with the careful alignment of these data stacks, an operation that is not always trivial. In addition, the presence of low-frequency scanning distortions can introduce intra-image shifts to the data. Here, we describe an improved automated method of performing non-rigid registration customised for the challenges unique to scanned microscope data specifically addressing the issues of low-SNR data, images containing a large proportion of crystalline material and/or local features of interest such as dislocations or edges. Careful attention has been paid to artefact testing of the non-rigid registration method used, and the importance of this registration for the quantitative interpretation of feature intensities and positions is evaluated.},
doi = {10.1186/s40679-015-0008-4},
journal = {Advanced Structural and Chemical Imaging},
number = 1,
volume = 1,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Jul 10 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Fri Jul 10 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}

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