Parallel Illumination Research Articles

Composition mapping in InGaN by scanning transmission electron microscopy

We suggest a method for chemical mapping that is based on scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) imaging with a high-angle annular dark field (HAADF) detector. The analysis method uses a comparison of intensity normalized with respect to the incident electron beam with intensity calculated employing the frozen lattice approximation. This procedure is validated with an In(0.07)Ga(0.93)N layer with homogeneous In concentration, where the STEM results were compared with energy filtered imaging, strain state analysis and energy dispersive X-ray analysis. Good agreement was obtained, if the frozen lattice simulations took into account static atomic displacements, caused by the different covalent radii of In and Ga atoms. Using a sample with higher In concentration and series of 32 images taken within 42 min scan time, we did not find any indication for formation of In rich regions due to electron beam irradiation, which is reported in literature to occur for the parallel illumination mode. Image simulation of an In(0.15)Ga(0.85)N layer that was elastically relaxed with empirical Stillinger-Weber potentials did not reveal significant impact of lattice plane bending on STEM images as well as on the evaluated In concentration profiles for specimen thicknesses of 5, 15 and 50 nm. Image simulation of an abrupt interface between GaN and In(0.15)Ga(0.85)N for specimen thicknesses up to 200 nm showed that artificial blurring of interfaces is significantly smaller than expected from a simple geometrical model that is based on the beam convergence only. As an application of the method, we give evidence for the existence of In rich regions in an InGaN layer which shows signatures of quantum dot emission in microphotoluminescence spectroscopy experiments.

Parallel hierarchical radiosity on hybrid platforms

Achieving an efficient realistic illumination is an important aim of research in computer graphics. In this paper a new parallel global illumination method for hybrid systems based on the hierarchical radiosity method is presented. Our solution allows the exploitation of systems that combine independent nodes with multiple cores per node. Thus, multiple nodes work in parallel in the computation of the global illumination for the same scene. Within each node, all the available computational cores are used through a shared-memory multithreading approach. The good results obtained in terms of speedup on several distributed-memory and shared-memory configurations show the versatility of our hybrid proposal.

Full-Field Laser Vibrometer for Instantaneous Vibration Measurement and Non-Destructive Inspection

We describe a system for real-time, full-field vibrometry, incorporating features of high-speed electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) and laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV). Based on a 2D interferometric sensor array, comprising 16×16 parallel illumination and detection channels, the matrix laser vibrometer (MLV), captures full-field data instantaneously, without beam scanning. The instrument design draws on the advantages of scale offered by modern telecommunications fiber optic and digital electronics. The resulting architecture, comprising a compact measurement probe linked by fiber optic umbilical to a remote electronics unit, facilitates practical application to the full-field study of transient vibrations and rapid non-destructive inspection of composite materials.

Characterizations of central symmetry for convex bodies in Minkowski spaces

K. Zindler [47] and P. C. Hammer and T. J. Smith [19] showed the following: Let K be a convex body in the Euclidean plane such that any two boundary points p and q of K , that divide the circumference of K into two arcs of equal length, are antipodal. Then K is centrally symmetric. [19] announced the analogous result for any Minkowski plane \documentclass{aastex} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{bm} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{pifont} \usepackage{stmaryrd} \usepackage{textcomp} \usepackage{upgreek} \usepackage{portland,xspace} \usepackage{amsmath,amsxtra} \usepackage{bbm} \pagestyle{empty} \DeclareMathSizes{10}{9}{7}{6} \begin{document} $$\mathbb{M}^2$$ \end{document}, with arc length measured in the respective Minkowski metric. This was recently proved by Y. D. Chai — Y. I. Kim [7] and G. Averkov [4]. On the other hand, for Euclidean d -space ℝ d , R. Schneider [38] proved that if K ⊂ ℝ d is a convex body, such that each shadow boundary of K with respect to parallel illumination halves the Euclidean surface area of K (for the definition of “halving” see in the paper), then K is centrally symmetric. (This implies the result from [19] for ℝ 2 .) We give a common generalization of the results of Schneider [38] and Averkov [4]. Namely, let \documentclass{aastex} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{bm} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{pifont} \usepackage{stmaryrd} \usepackage{textcomp} \usepackage{upgreek} \usepackage{portland,xspace} \usepackage{amsmath,amsxtra} \usepackage{bbm} \pagestyle{empty} \DeclareMathSizes{10}{9}{7}{6} \begin{document} $$\mathbb{M}^d$$ \end{document} be a d -dimensional Minkowski space, and K ⊂ \documentclass{aastex} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{bm} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{pifont} \usepackage{stmaryrd} \usepackage{textcomp} \usepackage{upgreek} \usepackage{portland,xspace} \usepackage{amsmath,amsxtra} \usepackage{bbm} \pagestyle{empty} \DeclareMathSizes{10}{9}{7}{6} \begin{document} $$\mathbb{M}^d$$ \end{document} be a convex body. If some Minkowskian surface area (e.g., Busemann’s or Holmes-Thompson’s) of K is halved by each shadow boundary of K with respect to parallel illumination, then K is centrally symmetric. Actually, we use little from the definition of Minkowskian surface area(s). We may measure “surface area” via any even Borel function ϕ: Sd −1 → ℝ, for a convex body K with Euclidean surface area measure dSK ( u ), with ϕ( u ) being dSK ( u )-almost everywhere non-0, by the formula B ↦ ∫ B ϕ( u ) dSK ( u ) (supposing that ϕ is integrable with respect to dSK ( u )), for B ⊂ Sd −1 a Borel set, rather than the Euclidean surface area measure B ↦ ∫ BdSK ( u ). The conclusion remains the same, even if we suppose surface area halving only for parallel illumination from almost all directions. Moreover, replacing the surface are a measure dSK ( u ) by the k -th area measure of K ( k with 1 ≦ k ≦ d − 2 an integer), the analogous result holds. We follow rather closely the proof for ℝ d , which is due to Schneider [38].

Refinement of the 200 structure factor for GaAs using parallel and convergent beam electron nanodiffraction data

We present a new method to measure structure factors from electron spot diffraction patterns recorded under almost parallel illumination in transmission electron microscopes. Bloch wave refinement routines have been developed to refine the crystal thickness, its orientation and structure factors by comparison of experimentally recorded and calculated intensities. Our method requires a modicum of computational effort, making it suitable for contemporary personal computers. Frozen lattice and Bloch wave simulations of GaAs diffraction patterns are used to derive optimised experimental conditions. Systematic errors are estimated from the application of the method to simulated diffraction patterns and rules for the recognition of physically reasonable initial refinement conditions are derived. The method is applied to the measurement of the 200 structure factor for GaAs. We found that the influence of inelastically scattered electrons is negligible. Additionally, we measured the 200 structure factor from zero loss filtered two-dimensional convergent beam electron diffraction patterns. The precision of both methods is found to be comparable and the results agree well with each other. A deviation of more than 20% from isolated atom scattering data is observed, whereas close agreement is found with structure factors obtained from density functional theory [A. Rosenauer, M. Schowalter, F. Glas, D. Lamoen, Phys. Rev. B 72 (2005), 085326-1], which account for the redistribution of electrons due to chemical bonding via modified atomic scattering amplitudes.

Measurement of Liquid Film Thickness by a Fringe Method

A technique was developed and tested to measure the local thickness of a droplet or a liquid film on a surface of an opaque or thick single transparent plate by an interference fringe pattern that was easily formed by reflecting laser lights. Monochromatic epi-illumination through an objective lens of a conventional microscope was provided by a 5 mW or 300 mW laser and a filter to remove the noise caused by laser speckle. The incremental height difference of the liquid layer between neighboring maxima or minima of fringes was evaluated from the wavelength of the laser light and the refractive index of the liquid. Estimation error of a local inclination angle was discussed using ray tracing under parallel illumination approximation. Droplet profiles evaluated from the interferogram that were obtained by the present fringe method agreed well with those by Laser Focus Displacement Meter. Measurement was made to ensure the usefulness of the present technique. It was made clear that the contact angle of a liquid droplet could be obtained precisely and swiftly, even in small size or small contact angle, and that instantaneous three-dimensional profile of a liquid film on a bubble moving in a microchannel could be measured. The fringe method had sufficient potential to obtain more detailed information about three-dimensional characteristics of liquid film in flows such as the generation, breakdown, and growth of waves and the liquid film on a bubble at the beginning of movement.

Elastic scattering of high-energy electrons by dopant atoms within a crystal in transmission electron microscopy

A Bloch-wave model of dopant-atom scattering is developed using perturbation theory for parallel illumination in a transmission electron microscope. Dopant-atom scattering causes a change in the Bloch-wave excitations, with transitions from one Bloch state to another being governed by the amplitudes of the Bloch states at the dopant-atom position. The scattering mechanisms therefore depend on whether the dopant atom is substitutional or interstitial as well as the orientation of the crystal. The model is used to calculate the electron wavefunction for substitutional and interstitial Mo atoms in [111]- and [001]-oriented body-centred cubic Fe and the results overall are consistent with multislice simulations. However, subtle differences are also observed. For example, in the Bloch-wave model the phase change of the incident electrons (with respect to the perfect crystal) due to dopant-atom scattering varies with the crystallographic orientation while in multislice theory the phase change is constant. This is likely to be due to the assumptions made in the Bloch-wave model, such as neglect of elastic diffuse scattering. Apart from providing a fundamental understanding of dopant-atom scattering, the model can also potentially be extended to analyse dopant-atom imaging in a scanning transmission electron microscope.

STEM probe characteristics at large defoci for use in ptychographical imaging

A possible configuration for undertaking diffractive imaging microscopy in the conventional scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) is to defocus the probe by a large distance in order to minimise the number of diffraction patterns required to reconstruct the ptychographical image. Although the characteristics of STEM probes have been well explored and measured near the beam crossover, they are rarely observed (or calculated) at very large defoci. In this paper we compare probes calculated under a variety of approximations with measured data from a JEOL 2010F in STEM mode. When the illumination aperture is narrow and the defocus is large (near parallel illumination useful for ptychographical imaging) the Ronchigram cannot be used easily to characterize aberration, We develop an alternative method of estimating the effective aperture size and condenser lens spherical aberration.

Pattern Projection with a Sinusoidal Phase Grating

The aim of this work is to study the diffractive properties of a sinusoidal phase grating for incorporation as a pattern projection element in a multisource and multicamera phase-shifting profilometric system. Two challenges should be overcome for successful operation of such a system, which are connected to inherent limitations of the phase-shifting algorithm—requirements for a sinusoidal fringe profile and for equal background and contrast of fringes in the recorded patterns. As a first task, we analyze the frequency content of the projected fringes in the Fresnel diffraction zone for parallel and divergent light illumination at different grating parameters and wavelengths. As a second task, we evaluate the systematical errors due to higher harmonics and multiwavelength illumination. Finally, operation of the four-wavelength profilometric system is simulated, and the error of the profilometric measurement evaluated. The results of test measurements are also presented.

Momentum-resolved energy loss near edge structure in [formula omitted

In this paper, we present a detailed study of the electronic structure of the strontium copper borate SrCu 2 ( BO 3 ) 2 using momentum-resolved energy loss near edge structure (ELNES) and ab initio band structure calculations. Information on the energy position, the character and the spatial orientation of the unoccupied states of this compound can be efficiently retrieved taking advantage of the nearly parallel illumination available in a conventional transmission electron microscope (CTEM). These results shed light on the bonding mechanisms taking place in complex oxides such as SrCu 2 ( BO 3 ) 2 .

Phototropic bending of non-elongating and radially growing woody stems results from asymmetrical xylem formation

Active phototropic bending of non-elongating and radially growing portion of stems (woody stems) has not been previously documented, whereas negative gravitropic bending is well known. We found phototropic bending in woody stems and searched for the underlying mechanism. We inclined 1-year-old Quercus crispula Blume seedlings and unilaterally illuminated them from a horizontal direction perpendicular to ('normal' illumination) or parallel to ('parallel' illumination) the inclination azimuth. With normal illumination, active phototropic bending and xylem formation could be evaluated separately from the negative gravitropic response and vertical deflection resulting from the weight of the seedlings. One-year-old stems with normal illumination bent significantly, with asymmetrical xylem formation towards the illuminated upper surface and side of the stem, whereas those with parallel illumination showed non-significant lateral bending, with asymmetrical xylem formation only on the upper side. A mechanical model was built on the assumption that a bending moment resulted from the asymmetrical xylem formation during phototropic bending of the woody stems. The model fitted the relationship between the observed spatial distributions of the xylem and the observed lateral bending, and thus supported the hypothesis that phototropic bending of woody stems results from asymmetrical xylem formation, as such occurs during gravitropism.

Rapid near-infrared diffuse tomography for hemodynamic imaging using a low-coherence wideband light source

Rapid near-infrared (NIR) diffuse optical tomography is implemented using a low-coherence source. The spectral bandwidth of the low-coherence source is dispersed and coupled to linearly bundled fibers, such that "spread"-spectral encoding among the bundled fibers is formed, and could be used for parallel source illumination onto tissue. In comparison with a previous spectral-encoding technique that employed multiple laser diodes, the use of a low-coherence source for spread-spectral encoding presents a few unique characteristics: (1) it provides shift-free spectral encoding; (2) it reduces the reconstruction uncertainty significantly owing to the minimization of spontaneous channel-to-channel intensity fluctuation; and (3) it enables the implementation of NIR tomography into an endoscopic imaging mode. A 20-mW superluminescent diode centered at 840 nm with a 40-nm bandwidth is used as the source, and a sampling speed of 5 Hz is obtained in a 27-mm imaging array consisting of eight sources and eight detection channels. The principles of using a low-coherence source for spread-spectral encoding are elaborated, the characteristic performances are demonstrated, and the preliminary results of imaging hemoglobin absorption variations during 10 s of voluntary breath-holding are presented.

Multifocal multiphoton microscopy (MMM) at a frame rate beyond 600 Hz

We introduce a multiphoton microscope for high-speed three-dimensional (3D) fluorescence imaging. The system combines parallel illumination by a multifocal multiphoton microscope (MMM) with parallel detection via a segmented high-sensitivity charge-couple device (CCD) camera. The instrument consists of a Ti-sapphire laser illuminating a microlens array that projects 36 foci onto the focal plane. The foci are scanned using a resonance scanner and imaged with a custom-made CCD camera. The MMM increases the imaging speed by parallelizing the illumination; the CCD camera can operate at a frame rate of 1428 Hz while maintaining a low read noise of 11 electrons per pixel by dividing its chip into 16 independent segments for parallelized readout. We image fluorescent specimens at a frame rate of 640 Hz. The calcium wave of fluo3 labeled cardiac myocytes is measured by imaging the spontaneous contraction of the cells in a 0.625 second sequence movie, consisting of 400 single images.

Short note on parallel illumination in the TEM

Parallel illumination conditions are required for several experiments in the transmission electron microscope (TEM). The image rotation induced by the helical trajectory of electrons passing through the magnetic field of the TEM lenses inevitably induces an inclination of the beam relative to the optical axis in the object plane—even for an electron which travels parallel to the optical axis in the far field. This angle (shear angle) is vectorially added to the convergence angle; it depends both on the distance to the optical axis and the magnetic field. By using a beam tilt compensation method, the minimum shear angle is found to be of the order of 1 mrad for a field of view of 2 μm in a 200 kV TEM. In practice, “parallel illumination” can only be obtained for fields of view ⪡1 μm.

Carrier phase component removal: a generalized least-squares approach

In fringe projection profilometry, an object shape is evaluated through phase distribution extracted from a projected fringe pattern. For parallel illumination geometry, the carrier phase component introduced by the fringes is spatially linear, whereas nonparallel illumination would lead to a nonlinear carrier. In this study, a general approach for the removal of a nonlinear-carrier phase component is proposed. A series expansion technique is used to approximate the carrier phase function, and a least-squares method is developed to estimate the unknown coefficients of the series. The theoretical analysis is given on the basis of a divergent illumination geometry with carrier fringes in the x direction. The method is also extended to include a curved surface-fitting approach, which is applicable to various measurement system geometries.

GPC-based optical micromanipulation in 3D real-time using a single spatial light modulator

Using a novel dual-beam readout with the generalized phase contrast (GPC) method, a multiple-beam 3D real-time micromanipulation system requiring only one spatial light modulator (SLM) has been realized. A theoretical framework for the new GPC scheme with two parallel illumination beams is presented and corroborated with an experimental demonstration. Three-dimensional arrays of polystyrene microbeads were assembled in the newly described system. The use of air immersion objective lenses with GPC-based optical trapping allowed the simultaneous viewing of the assemblies in two orthogonal bright-field imaging perspectives.

Above Room-Temperature Ferromagnetism in GaN Powders by Calcinations with CuO

ABSTRACTGallium nitride powders were calcined with copper oxide in either air or N2 and analyzed by means of powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution parallel illumination (HRTEM) and scanning probe transmission electron microscopy (STEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS), and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in order to address the structural and electronic effects of Cu-incorporation into GaN. Gallium oxide and multiple copper oxide phases corresponding to the calcination environment were detected. Significant changes in the lattice parameters and electronic structure of the N2-processed GaN indicate incorporation of both copper and oxygen into the GaN lattice as well as changes in the chemical bonding due to the calcinations process. SQUID magnetometer measurements at 300 K demonstrated ferromagnetism in selected samples.

Adaptive optics parallel spectral domain optical coherence tomography for imaging the living retina

Although optical coherence tomography (OCT) can axially resolve and detect reflections from individual cells, there are no reports of imaging cells in the living human retina using OCT. To supplement the axial resolution and sensitivity of OCT with the necessary lateral resolution and speed, we developed a novel spectral domain OCT (SD-OCT) camera based on a free-space parallel illumination architecture and equipped with adaptive optics (AO). Conventional flood illumination, also with AO, was integrated into the camera and provided confirmation of the focus position in the retina with an accuracy of +/-10.3 mum. Short bursts of narrow B-scans (100x560 mum) of the living retina were subsequently acquired at 500 Hz during dynamic compensation (up to 14 Hz) that successfully corrected the most significant ocular aberrations across a dilated 6 mm pupil. Camera sensitivity (up to 94 dB) was sufficient for observing reflections from essentially all neural layers of the retina. Signal-to-noise of the detected reflection from the photoreceptor layer was highly sensitive to the level of cular aberrations and defocus with changes of 11.4 and 13.1 dB (single pass) observed when the ocular aberrations (astigmatism, 3rd order and higher) were corrected and when the focus was shifted by 200 mum (0.54 diopters) in the retina, respectively. The 3D resolution of the B-scans (3.0x3.0x5.7 mum) is the highest reported to date in the living human eye and was sufficient to observe the interface between the inner and outer segments of individual photoreceptor cells, resolved in both lateral and axial dimensions. However, high contrast speckle, which is intrinsic to OCT, was present throughout the AO parallel SD-OCT B-scans and obstructed correlating retinal reflections to cell-sized retinal structures.

Parallel Fourier domain optical coherence tomography for in vivo measurement of the human eye

A parallel Frequency Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (FD-OCT) system and - to the best of our knowledge- first in vivo tomograms obtained with such system are presented. A full tomogram of 256(x) x 512(z) pixels covering a sample region of 8 mm x 3,8 mm is recorded in only 1 ms. Since the transverse as well as the depth information is obtained in parallel, the structure is free of any motion artifacts. In order to study cross talk issues for parallel illumination the transversal resolution for a thermal light source is compared to that with an SLD.

High definition imaging in the Mega Amp Spherical Torus spherical tokamak from soft x rays to infrared (invited)

The Mega Amp Spherical Torus (MAST) diagnostic needs are strongly influenced by physics goals that often require diagnostic integration and cross-mapping, especially in fine-scale investigations, such as transport barriers. Conversely, the unrivalled viewing access to the edge, scrape-off layer (SOL) and divertor regions, provided by the MAST open geometry, impacts on the physics program priorities. A supporting suite diagnostics, such as the high definition Thomson scattering systems, provide considerable added value in detailed data interpretation (e.g., bremsstrahlung emissivity in terms of Zeff). Thus, to exploit these advantages, an extensive set of high-resolution imaging diagnostics have been installed, encompassing soft x-rays, visible bremsstrahlung, charge exchange recognisation radiation, Dα from NBI, and edge plasma neutrals, and infrared (IR) from the divertor and wall regions. Plasma light collection optics provide near parallel illumination of narrow bandpass interference filters to give monochromatic images. One adaptation provides multiwavelength images; another accommodates smooth variation of wavelength across an image (e.g., for a range of Doppler shifts beam fast neutrals). Diagnostic synergy is enhanced by combining such diagnostics to common viewing optics which allow exact-mapping. Soft x-ray tangential imaging has been achieved by using a two dimensional charge coupled device detector in a pinhole camera. Finally, a fast IR camera monitors the power deposition on the first wall and divertor plates, important in quantifying power losses (e.g., ELMs, disruptions), and complemented by visible viewing of the SOL, and linear Dα cameras.