GENETIC ALGORITHMS AS APPLIED TO RECONSTRUCTION OF SURFACE-MORPHOLOGYFROM AN SEM IMAGE

A reconstruction method of surface morphology from a scanning electron microscope (SEM) image is proposed. In comparison with conventional s tereometric and multiple-detector methods, the proposed system require s only a secondary electron image taken by a conventional SEM for reco nstruction of microstructures of a specimen surface. This method is an application of genetic algorithms, which are search algorithms based on the mechanics of natural selection and genetics, to surface morphol ogy in SEM. To test the capability of this method, a cross-section is successfully reconstructed from a calculated line scan of hemicycle su rface composed of a single element.