Image emission microscope with improved image processing capability
AssigneeHypervision, Inc.
InventorNeeraj Khurana
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An emission microscope includes integrating and enhancing devices operating in parallel for optimizing the image of a scanned semiconductor device. Integration is terminated when sufficient clarity is acquired. The system further incorporates adaptive histogram matching using a noise distribution curve. Those pixels not meeting a predetermined intensity level are deleted to further enhance image display.
Claims12
An emission microscope for displaying images of light emitted from a semiconductor device comprising
- means for supporting said semiconductor device, said device facing an optical means for outputting an image of said device,
- means for intensifying said device image,
- means for converting said intensified image to a video image signal,
- processing means comprising an integrating device and an enhancement device operating in parallel, said video image being first processed in said integrating device to form an integrated image which is periodically transferred to said enhancing device for greater image enhancement, said enhancement are performed while further integration of said video image signal continues, and
- display means for displaying said enhanced image so that said integration may be terminated when said display image is of sufficient clarity.
An emission microscope for displaying images of light emitted from a semiconductor device comprising
- means for supporting said semiconductor device, said device facing an optical means for outputting an image of said device,
- means for intensifying said device image,
- means for converting said intensified image to a video image signal,
- processing means comprising means for integrating said video image signal;
- means for estimating noise for integrating said video image signal;
- means for estimating noise in said video image by assuming the faintest pixels in said video image of an electrically stimulated semiconductor device to be noise and fitting a histogram of noise to intensities of faintest pixels of the image,
- means for deleting from the displayed image those pixels which fall within the calculated noise distribution, and
- display means for displaying said enhanced image so that said integration may be terminated when said display image is of sufficient clarity.
An emission microscope for displaying images of light emitted from a semiconductor devices comprising
- means for supporting said semiconductor device, said device facing an optical means for outputting an image of said device,
- means for converting said image to a video image signal,
- processing means comprising an integrating device and an enhancement device operating in parallel, said video image being first processed in said integrating device to form an integrated image which is periodically transferred to said enhancing device for greater image enhancement, said enhancement are performed while further integration of said video image signal continues,
- means for estimating noise by assuming the faintest pixels in said video image of an electrically stimulated semiconductor device to be noise and fitting a histogram of noise to intensities of faintest pixels of the image, and means for deleting from the displayed image those pixels which fall within the calculated noise distribution, and
- display means for displaying said enhanced image so that said integration may be terminated when said display image is of sufficient clarity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.