An Improved Spectral Background Subtraction Method Based on Wavelet Energy

Abstract Most spectral background subtraction methods rely on the difference in frequency response of background compared with characteristic peaks. It is difficult to extract accurately the background components from the spectrum when characteristic peaks and background have overlaps in frequency domain. An improved background estimation algorithm based on iterative wavelet transform (IWT) is presented. The wavelet entropy principle is used to select the best wavelet basis. A criterion based on wavelet energy theory to determine the optimal iteration times is proposed. The case of energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy is discussed for illustration. A simulated spectrum with a prior known background and an experimental spectrum are tested. The processing results of the simulated spectrum is compared with non-IWT and it demonstrates the superiority of the IWT. It has great significance to improve the accuracy for spectral analysis.