Photogrammetry of the three-dimensional shape and texture of a nanoscale particle using scanning electron microscopy and free software

Abstract

We apply photogrammetry in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to study the three-dimensional shape and surface texture of a nanoscale LiTi2(PO4)3 particle. We highlight the fact that the technique can be applied non-invasively in any SEM using free software (freeware) and does not require special sample preparation. Three-dimensional information is obtained in the form of a surface mesh, with the texture of the sample stored as a separate two-dimensional image (referred to as a UV Map). The mesh can be used to measure parameters such as surface area, volume, moment of inertia and center of mass, while the UV map can be used to study the surface texture using conventional image processing techniques. We also illustrate the use of 3D printing to visualize the reconstructed model.

Keywords: Freeware; Image processing; LiTi(2)(PO(4))(3); Nanoscale particle morphology; Photogrammetry; Surface texture; Three-dimensional scanning electron microscopy.