A New Correlation-Based Granulometry Algorithm with Application in Characterizing Porous Silicon Nanomaterials

• Main Authors: Maruta, Ricardo H., Kim, Hae Yong, Huanca, Danilo R., Salcedo, Walter J.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1938-5862; 1938-6737
• DOI: 10.1149/1.3474170

Granulometry measures the size distribution of objects in an image of granular material. Usually, algorithms based on mathematical morphology or edge detection are used for this task. We propose a entirely new approach using the cross correlations with circles of different sizes. This technique is primarily adequate for detecting nearly circular objects, but it can be extended to other shapes. Experiments show that the new algorithm is greatly robust to noise and can detect even faint objects. This paper also reports the quantitative structural characteristics of the porous silicon layer based on the proposed algorithm applied to Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images. The new algorithm computes the size distribution of pores and classifies the pores in circular or square ones. We relate these quantitative results to the fabrication process and discuss the square porous silicon formation mechanism. The new algorithm is reliable in SEM images processing.