Role of slice thickness quantification in the 3D reconstruction of FIB tomography data of nanoporous materials

Enthalten in
Ultramicroscopy 
Volume
256
Start Page
1
End Page
9
Article Number
113878
Citation
Ultramicroscopy 256: 1-9 (2024-02)
Publisher DOI
10.1016/j.ultramic.2023.113878
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85175180548
Publisher
Elsevier
In focused ion beam (FIB) tomography, a combination of FIB with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) is used for collecting a series of planar images of the microstructure of nanoporous materials. These planar images serve as the basis for reconstructing the three-dimensional microstructure through segmentation algorithms. However, the assumption of a constant distance between consecutively imaged sections is generally invalid due to random variations in the FIB milling process. This variation complicates the accurate reconstruction of the three-dimensional microstructure. Using synthetic FIB tomography data, we present an algorithm that repositions slices according to their actual thickness and interpolates the results using machine learning-based methods. We applied our algorithm to real datasets, comparing two standard approaches of microstructure reconstruction: on-the-fly via image processing and ruler-based via sample structuring. Our findings indicate that the ruler-based method, combined with our novel slice repositioning and interpolation algorithm, exhibits superior performance in reconstructing the microstructure.
Schlagworte
Accurate reconstruction
FIB
Image inpainting
Slice repositioning
Slice thickness determination
DDC Class
620: Engineering and Applied Operations