An applied noise model for scintillation-based CCD detectors in transmission electron microscopy

Area of Science:

• Physics
• Materials Science
• Image Processing

Background:

• Measurements using pixelated detectors, common in medical imaging, astronomy, and electron microscopy, are limited by noise.
• Detector signals are convolved with the point spread function (PSF), correlating Poisson noise and enabling PSF reconstruction via Wiener-Khinchin theorem.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide insight into noise contributions, statistics, and correlations in pixelated detectors.
• To mathematically describe and experimentally validate noise-related changes in detector operations.
• To present methods for measuring individual noise and correlation parameters.

Main Methods:

• Mathematical modeling of noise contributions and correlations.
• Experimental validation of theoretical descriptions.
• Development of methods for measuring noise and correlation parameters.

Main Results:

• Noise correlation significantly impacts signal binning operations, such as in electron energy-loss spectroscopy.
• Gain non-linearities and quantum efficiency deviations require correction for optimal results.
• The study provides a framework for understanding and quantifying noise in detector systems.

Conclusions:

• Accurate characterization of noise and its correlation is crucial for assessing measurement quality.
• Knowledge of noise parameters facilitates improved post-processing techniques like deconvolution.
• This work enables readers to implement routines for noise analysis, enhancing detector performance.