1.1 Analysis of photomicrograhs

Transmission electron microscope (TEM) or photomicroscope (PM) can be used to produce the optical photomicrographs of thin films. These micrographs can then be used to study the surface microstructure of the thin films. For example, the grain shape and grain boundaries can be seen directly on the micrograph. The other parameters such as the grain size, grain size distribution, orientation and volume can either be measured or computed from the micrographs. These grain size and grain size parameters are very important in understanding the optical and spectral properties of materials that we are concerned with in selective applications. [2]

Several procedures can be used to measure or estimate the grain size. These are [2, 4-5]

Comparism chart estimates Fracture grain size estimates

Planetric (Jeffries) measurements Intercept (Heyn) measurements Snyder-Graff Intercept methods