Advanced image analysis and its application in thin film physics

Very thin metal films deposited on dielectrics consist of small three-dimensional islands (objects) distributed on the substrate. The quantitative characterisation of the object arrangement can bring information about internal processes in the studied system. For the analysis of systems consisting of small, regular objects, the methods of mathematical morphology applied to images of these systems are well-suited. In the contribution, several morphological algorithms are analysed and tested by means of computer experiment. It was found that especially the Voronoi tessellation method represents a powerful tool for the analysis of thin film morphology.