An analogue of the speckle contrast technique for low-conducting features enhancement in scanning tunneling microscopy images of nanocomposites.

Basing on the dependence of tunneling current fluctuations on the local conductivity of a non-uniform media, we propose to apply the computational technique mathematically equivalent to the speckle contrast calculations for pattern recognition in low-contrast images obtained via the scanning tunneling microscopy. As a case study, the revealing BaTiO 3 nanoparticles filling conductive polyaniline matrix is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]