HRTEM image-stitching for measurement of distances

Very accurate measurement of distances in the order of several µm is demonstrated on a single crystal Si sample by counting the lattice fringes on stitched high resolution TEM/STEM images. Stitching of TEM images commonly relies on correspondence points found in the image, however, the nearly perfect periodic nature of a lattice image renders such a procedure very unreliable. To overcome this difficulty artificial correspondence points are created on the sample using the electron beam. An accuracy better than 1% can be reached while measuring distances in the order of 1 µm. A detailed description of the process is provided, and its usability for accurately measuring large distances is discussed in detail.