  A method for automated quantification of the alignment of one-dimensional
nanostructures from microscopy imaging is presented. Nanostructure alignment
metrics are formulated and shown to able to rigorously quantify the
orientational order of nanostructures within a two-dimensional domain
(surface). A complementary image processing method is also presented which
enables robust processing of microscopy images where overlapping nanostructures
might be present. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of nanowire-covered
surfaces are analyzed using the presented methods and it is shown that past
single parameter alignment metrics are insufficient for highly aligned domains.
Through the use of multiple parameter alignment metrics, automated quantitative
analysis of SEM images is shown to be possible and the alignment
characteristics of different samples are able to be rigorously compared using a
similarity metric. The results of this work provide researchers in nanoscience
and nanotechnology with a rigorous method for the determination of
structure/property relationships where alignment of one-dimensional
nanostructures is significant.
