Method of Contrast Enhancement and Background Correction in Electron Diffraction Patterns of Polycrystalline Materials

Noise minimization and suppression is one of the most important problems in image processing. Background correction and detection of weak reflections were performed using the well-known algorithms implemented in the ImageJ and Digital Micrograpph (GATAN) programs and developed in this paper for experimental electron diffraction patterns obtained from a nanocrystalline 10-nm-thick hafnium oxide layer. An algorithm for processing electron diffraction patterns is proposed, which is based on a multiscale Retinex filter and Hough transform. It is also devised to present electron diffraction patterns in polar coordinates, which is often more visual and convenient for indexing reflections.