Position Resolution Research Articles

Exploring crucial technological advancements in Anger-Camera neutron detectors for single crystal neutron diffraction

In accordance with the second phase construction blueprint for the China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS-II), the proposal includes the establishment of a single crystal neutron diffractometer. This apparatus necessitates a neutron detector array spanning over 1 m2 and capable of covering neutron diffraction angles from 20° to 160°. Additionally, the detector's position resolution must better than 1 mm × 1 mm. To meet such requirements, a scintillator neutron detector based on the Anger-Camera principle was designed. The detector is composed of a 6LiF/ZnS (Ag) scintillation screen, optical guide, silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) array and self-design composite compression readout electronic systems. A detector prototype, featuring a detection area of 50 mm × 50 mm, was fabricated and subjected to testing at the BL20 neutron test line in the China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS). The detector system achieved an optimal position resolution of 0.6 mm, while the maximum count rate was approximately 20 kHz. Moreover, the detector's Bragg edge imaging capability was preliminarily investigated using stainless steel samples, demonstrating its future potential for Bragg edge transmission imaging. The proposed detector demonstrates promising potential as a candidate for the single crystal diffractometer in CSNS-II.

CNN-based track reconstruction study for gamma-ray pair telescope

MeV Gamma-ray Telescope (MGT) is a conceptual mission aimed at improving the detection sensitivity of gamma-ray astronomy in the MeV energy range. It consists of three sub-detectors: Gamma-ray Conversion silicon tracker, CALOrimeter and Anti-Coincident Detector. In this paper, a track reconstruction algorithm based on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) is developed for MGT. In order to train and test the model, Geant4 simulation is used and generates a large number of gamma-ray events at nine energy points in the energy band from 0.5 GeV to 10 GeV. Finally, the reconstruction results of angular resolution, position resolution and acceptance are shown. The testing results indicate that the angular resolution of MGT significantly improves in the 0.5∼10 GeV range compared with Fermi-LAT.

Prompt gamma timing for proton range verification with TlBr and TlCl as pure Cherenkov emitters

Objective. Prompt gamma timing (PGT) uses the detection time of prompt gammas emitted along the range of protons in proton radiotherapy to verify the position of the Bragg peak (BP). Cherenkov detectors offer the possibility of enhanced signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) due to the inherent physics of Cherenkov emission which enhances detection of high energy prompt gamma rays relative to other induced uncorrelated signals. In this work, the PGT technique was applied to 3 semiconductor material slabs that emit only Cherenkov light for use in a full scale system: a 3 × 3 × 20 mm3 TlBr, a 12 × 12 × 12 mm3 TlBr, and a 5 × 5 × 5 mm3 TlCl. Approach. A polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) target was exposed to a 67.5 MeV, 0.5 nA proton beam and shifted in 3 mm increments at the Crocker nuclear laboratory (CNL) in Davis, CA, USA. A fast plastic scintillator coupled to a photomultiplier tube (PMT) provided the start reference for the proton time of flight. Time of flight (TOF) distributions were generated using this reference and the gamma-ray timestamp in the Cherenkov detector. Main results. The SNR of the proton correlated peaks relative to the background was 20, 29, and 30 for each of the three samples, respectively. The upper limit of the position resolutions with the TlCl sample were 2 mm, 3 mm, and 5 mm for 30k, 10k, and 5k detected events, respectively. The time distribution of events with respect to the reference reproduced with clarity the periodicity of the beam, implying a very high SNR of the Cherenkov crystals to detect prompt gammas. Background presence from the neutron-induced continuum, prompt gammas from deuterium, or positron activation were not observed. Material choice and crystal dimensions did not seem to affect significantly the outcome of the results. Significance. These results show the high SNR of the pure Cherenkov emitters TlBr and TlCl for the detection of prompt gammas in a proton beam with current of clinical significance and their potential for verifying the proton range. The accuracy in determining shifts of the BP was highly dependent on the number of events acquired, therefore, the performance of these detectors are expected to vary with different beam conditions such as current, pulse repetition, and proton bunch width.

Crowdsourcing RTK: a new GNSS positioning framework for building spatial high-resolution atmospheric maps based on massive vehicle GNSS data

High-quality spatial atmospheric delay correction information is essential for achieving fast integer ambiguity resolution (AR) in precise positioning. However, traditional real-time precise positioning frameworks (i.e., NRTK and PPP-RTK) depend on spatial low-resolution atmospheric delay correction through the expensive and sparsely distributed CORS network. This results in limited public appeal. With the mass production of autonomous driving vehicles, more cost-effective and widespread data sources can be explored to create spatial high-resolution atmospheric maps. In this study, we propose a new GNSS positioning framework that relies on dual base stations, massive vehicle GNSS data, and crowdsourced atmospheric delay correction maps (CAM). The map is easily produced and updated by vehicles equipped with GNSS receivers in a crowd-sourced way. Specifically, the map consists of between-station single-differenced ionospheric and tropospheric delays. We introduce the whole framework of CAM initialization for individual vehicles, on-cloud CAM maintenance, and CAM-augmented user-end positioning. The map data are collected and preprocessed in vehicles. Then, the crowdsourced data are uploaded to a cloud server. The massive data from multiple vehicles are merged in the cloud to update the CAM in time. Finally, the CAM will augment the user positioning performance. This framework forms a beneficial cycle where the CAM’s spatial resolution and the user positioning performance mutually improve each other. We validate the performance of the proposed framework in real-world experiments and the applied potency at different spatial scales. We highlight that this framework is a reliable and practical positioning solution that meets the requirements of ubiquitous high-precision positioning.

Photon Induced Scintillation Amplifier — The PISA concept

Photoelectron signal amplification in gas photomultipliers (GPMs) is achieved through charge avalanche development in the holes of a cascade of hole-type microperforated foils. When a voltage difference is applied between the metal film electrodes that are deposited on both surfaces of those foils, an electric field with a high intensity is established inside the holes. As a consequence, each electron entering those holes produces an electron avalanche that emerges from the other side of the holes. A cascade of few foils is necessary for a single primary electron to produce a final avalanche intense enough to be read out, in the anode electrode, above the electronic noise. We propose the Photon Induced Scintillation Amplifier (PISA), where the photoelectron signal amplification is obtained by reading out the photon scintillation produced in the charge avalanches of solely one Micro-Hole-and-Strip-Plate-type microstructure with SiPMs. The optical readout has the advantage of having the extra gain from the photosensor and is less sensitive to electronic noise. A large photosensor gain produces large output signals that can travel over long distances without significant degradation. This allows for the readout electronics to be placed away from the photosensor and, thus, from the detector sensitive volume. The scintillation readout plane can be made of a 2D-array of SiPMs, with size and pitch in accordance with the needed scintillation level and position resolution. A first basic prototype was assembled to present a proof-of-principle of the PISA concept.

Performance of the ATLAS forward proton Time-of-Flight detector in Run 2

We present performance studies of the Time-of-Flight (ToF) subdetector of the ATLAS Forward Proton (AFP) detector at the LHC. Efficiencies and resolutions are measured using high-statistics data samples collected at low and moderate pile-up in 2017, the first year when the detectors were installed on both sides of the interaction region. While low efficiencies are observed, of the order of a few percent, the resolutions of the two ToF detectors measured individually are 21 ps and 28 ps, yielding an expected resolution of the longitudinal position of the interaction, z vtx, in the central ATLAS detector of 5.3 ± 0.6 mm. This is in agreement with the observed width of the distribution of the difference between z vtx, measured independently by the central ATLAS tracker and by the ToF detector, of 6.0 ± 2.0 mm.

Development of a low-pressure Multi-Mesh THGEM detector for fission experiments at FRIB

A small-area imaging detector prototype for position measurement of fission fragments produced in low energy heavy-ion reactions is presented in this study. The detector readout is equipped with a 2-dimensional, position-sensitive gaseous avalanche readout based on the novel Multi-Mesh Thick-GEM (MM-THGEM), and is coupled to a delay-line board for particle localization. The prototype has an effective area of 10 × 10 cm2 and is operated in isobutane at low pressure (7–10 Torr). We present and discuss a series of systematic evaluation tests performed by irradiating the detector with α-particles and fission fragments emitted by small-rate sources (241Am, 249Cf and 252Cf). Position and time resolutions of about 0.42 mm and 1 ns were achieved, respectively. This work serves as a benchmark for the development of a large-scale array of detectors for experiments with fission and fission-like reaction products at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB).

Neutron flux and energy resolution of direct-geometry disk-chopper spectrometer AMATERAS at J-PARC

We investigated neutron flux at a sample position and energy resolution of a direct-geometry disk-chopper spectrometer AMATERAS under various chopper conditions and compared them with simulations and calculations. The measured flux was comparable to that of similar high-flux spectrometers. The resolution when using a pulse-shaping chopper correlated well with the analytical calculations, including the thickness of the disk chopper, the sample size, and the penetration depth into the detector. The results show that the chopper, placed at the intermediate distance of the primary spectrometer, functions as a pulse shaper that optimizes the flux and resolution below the incident energy of 10 meV.

Parallel-plate avalanche counters for heavy-ion beam tracking: History and mysteries

Despite being an old detector concept, position-sensitive parallel-plate avalanche counters (PPACs) remain widely used today for heavy-ion position and timing measurements. In modern rare isotope beam facilities and large-acceptance fragment separators, PPACs are used to characterize beam properties (diagnostics), facilitate beam delivery (tuning), and provide event-by-event beam tracking for particle identification (PID). Most popular particle localization methods in PPAC detectors are based on strip electrodes electrically connected to resistive-chain circuits or delay lines. More exotic systems include optical readouts based on recording electroluminescence light with high-granularity photodetector arrays or high-resolution resistive anode electrodes. PPACs with conventional resistive-chain or delay-line readouts achieve typical position and time resolutions of below 1 mm (σ) and around 150 ps (σ), respectively. In addition, delay-line systems are capable of counting rates above several hundred kHz for beam areas of a few millimeters square, and around 1 MHz for larger beam sizes. Resistive-chain readouts have limited rates of a few tens of kHz. A review of the operation principles and performance of PPAC detectors is presented in this paper. We will discuss decades-long experience building and operating PPACs developed at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, and then refined at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), mostly focusing on the delay-line readout technique (DLPPAC). We will also discuss problems that arise due to electric discharges at high rates and briefly describe ongoing developments at FRIB. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

‘Accurate proton range shift verification by using a two-layer dense-pixel LYSO compton camera prototype

ObjectiveCompton camera (CC)-based prompt gamma imaging (PGI) is promising to realize real-time in-vivo range verification during proton therapy. Lutetium–yttrium orthosilicate (LYSO)-based CC has advantages in high detection efficiency and position resolution. However, few LYSO CC-based PGI experimental evaluations have been investigated. ApproachWe built a 46 × 46 two-layer dense-pixel LYSO CC prototype for PGI. We attempt the first-ever effort to conduct the proton range shift verification experiments with the LYSO CC prototype. A 13 MeV proton beam with a cross-section of 1 mm2 produced by the Compact Pulsed Hadron Source (CPHS) and a lead collimator irradiates a block of graphite, a block of polymethacrylates (PMMA) and a block of fresh pork, respectively. A range shift varied from 1 mm to 5 mm of the proton beam is used to evaluate the performance of the prototype in PGI. The peak current intensity was about 640 nA. The pulse width and frequency were 100 μs and 1 Hz, respectively. The rate of incident protons in each measurement is about 3.6 × 108/s, and the corresponding delivered dose is about 5.8 Gy. Main resultsThe built LYSO CC prototype can distinguish the displacement of the Bragg peak in 2 mm (reaching 1 mm) at a distance of about 13 cm, and can accurately reconstruct the positions of the Bragg peak with a mean deviation of 0.2 mm in the eighteen groups of experiments. SignificationThe experiments demonstrate the feasibility of the developed two-layer dense-pixel LYSO CC in realizing accurate range shift monitoring and show its potential in range verification during clinical proton therapy and high particle rate proton therapy (e.g., FLASH proton therapy).

Tapered Optical Fiber Enabled Distributed Sensors with High Spatial Resolution by Deep Learning

AbstractDistributed optical fiber sensing (DOFS) systems are valuable tools for monitoring various physical parameters (e.g., temperature, pressure, strain). DOFS systems, however, remain a challenge for achieving high spatial resolution in narrow spaces due to the bulky external demodulation techniques. Herein, by taking advantage of spatial inhomogeneity‐induced higher‐order modes, a tapered optical fiber‐based distributed sensor is developed to monitor the contact position and force by deep learning simultaneously. The sensor achieves the position and force prediction resolutions of 7.6 µm and 0.02 N, respectively, over the 5.6 mm length by developing a multi‐scale convolutional neural network with a long short‐term memory model to decode the output signals. Furthermore, the sensor can identify position and force in a 2D plane, exhibiting excellent distributed sensing capabilities. The results may pave the way toward high‐performance distributed sensors for applications from healthcare, robotics to human–machine interfaces.

Characterisation of plastic scintillator paddles and lightweight MWPCs for the MID subsystem of ALICE 3

The ALICE collaboration is proposing a completely new detector, ALICE 3, for operation during the LHC Runs 5 and 6. One of the ALICE 3 subsystems is the Muon IDentifier detector (MID), which has to be optimised to be efficient for the reconstruction of J/ψ at rest (muons down to p T ≈ 1.5 GeV/c) for |η| < 1.3. Given the modest particle flux expected in the MID of a few Hz/cm2, technologies like plastic scintillator bars (≈ 1 m length) equipped with wavelength-shifting fibers and silicon photomultiplier readout, and lightweight Multi-Wire Proportional Chambers (MWPCs) are under investigation. To this end, different plastic scintillator paddles and MWPCs were studied at the CERN T10 test beam facility. This paper reports on the performance of the scintillator prototypes tested at different beam momenta (from 0.5 GeV/c up to 6 GeV/c) and positions (horizontal, vertical, and angular scans). The MWPCs were tested at different momenta (from 0.5 GeV/c to 10 GeV/c) and beam intensities, their efficiency and position resolutions were verified beyond the particle rates expected with the MID in ALICE 3.

The position resolution of the Gas Microchannel plate Pixel Detector

The Gas Microchannel plate Pixel Detector (GMPD) is purposefully designed and manufactured for astrophysical X-ray polarization detection, slated for use in various space missions such as the Cosmic X-ray Polarization Detector (CXPD) CubeSat, Low Energy Polarimeter Detector (LPD/POLAR-2), and the Chasing All Transients Constellation Hunters (CATCH). Past research has explored the polarization and spectral performance of GMPD. This study, for the first time, experimentally investigates its imaging characteristics to validate its imaging capabilities. Utilizing a deconvolution method, we measured the position resolution of GMPD, revealing distinctions in the detector's imaging capabilities for X-rays of varying energies and in orthogonal directions. These research findings will provide targeted insights for optimizing the photoelectron track reconstruction algorithm and correcting systematic effects in polarization measurements for future applications of GMPD.

A miniature prototype of Time Projection Chambers for CSR External-Target Experiment

A miniature prototype of time projection chamber for the cooling storage ring external-target experiment (CEE) at the Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou (HIRFL) was designed for three-dimensional tracking of charged particles produced in heavy-ion collisions at the target region and for particle identification. The prototype consists of a TPC detector chamber with active volume of 9 cm (height), 10 cm (length) and 10 cm (width), gas electron multiplier (GEM) detector readout and SAMPA-based electronics. This work describes design, track reconstruction method and performance of the prototype. The energy resolution is 11.03% sigma using a 55Fe x-ray source. Using heavy-ion beam of 150 MeV/u Fe, the test results show that the two-dimensional position resolution and drift time resolution of the prototype are better than 400 μm and 20 ns, respectively.

Eukaryotic yeast V1-ATPase rotary mechanism insights revealed by high-resolution single-molecule studies.

Vacuolar ATP-dependent proton pumps (V-ATPases) belong to a super-family of rotary ATPases and ATP synthases. The V1 complex consumes ATP to drive rotation of a central rotor that pumps protons across membranes via the Vo complex. Eukaryotic V-ATPases are regulated by reversible disassembly of subunit C, V1 without C, and VO. ATP hydrolysis is thought to generate an unknown rotary state that initiates regulated disassembly. Dissociated V1 is inhibited by subunit H that traps it in a specific rotational position. Here, we report the first single-molecule studies with high resolution of time and rotational position of Saccharomyces cerevisiae V1-ATPase lacking subunits H and C (V1ΔHC), which resolves previously elusive dwells and angular velocity changes. Rotation occurred in 120° power strokes separated by dwells comparable to catalytic dwells observed in other rotary ATPases. However, unique V1ΔHC rotational features included: 1) faltering power stroke rotation during the first 60°; 2) a dwell often occurring ∼45° after the catalytic dwell, which did not increase in duration at limiting MgATP; 3) a second dwell, ∼2-fold longer occurring 112° that increased in duration and occurrence at limiting MgATP; 4) limiting MgATP-dependent decreases in power stroke angular velocity where dwells were not observed. The results presented here are consistent with MgATP binding to the empty catalytic site at 112° and MgADP released at ∼45°, and provide important new insight concerning the molecular basis for the differences in rotary positions of substrate binding and product release between V-type and F-type ATPases.

50.3 ps time resolution and an 11-channel time measuring chip for Topmetal detectors

The Topmetal detector, utilized in this investigation, is a direct-type CMOS pixel sensor known for its distinctive feature of employing exposed metal at the top of each pixel to directly capture external charged particles. This method generates electrical signals through the induction of charge. At present, it is mainly used in gas pixel detector(GPD) and particle beam monitoring. In this paper, we present a new front-end design aimed at enhancing the capabilities of the Topmetal pixel detector. The focus is on incorporating a Time-Digital Conversion (TDC) ASIC into the front-end, with the objective of achieving high-precision time measurement in addition to superior position resolution. The function of the TDC is achieved by the two reverse delay chains, 11 edge acquisition circuits Time-to-Amplitude Converter (TAC), analog gate, weight count module, and Wilkinson Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC). Coarse time measurement is implemented based on a counter with a working frequency of 500 MHz, and fine time measurement is implemented by the combination of TAC and ADC. The design prototype was taped out with the GSMCR130 nm technology. Test results show that this circuit can handle up to 11 consecutive cases, with the minimum time interval of adjacent cases being 500 ps and the bin size up to 2 ps. The time measurement precision is better than 50.3 ps RMS and the PVT(Process Voltage Temperature) robustness of the input delay chain circuit is validated, showing the stable performance of the design.

Electronics design for a muon imaging system using triangular plastic scintillators with WLS fiber readouts

Muon imaging technology has developed rapidly over the past decades with extensive applications. In many cases, plastic scintillator detectors are preferred because of their high cost performance, ease of processing and robustness in harsh environments. To reduce imaging time and improve imaging quality, detectors tend to have large areas and high position resolutions. The challenge to the electronics for such detectors is to maintain the scale of electronics acceptable while improving the high position resolution of the detector. In this paper, the basic detector unit is a triangular strip of plastic scintillator, each embedded with two wavelength-shifting (WLS) fibers read out by the silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs). Since the hit position of muon on the detector is determined by the splitting ratio of the scintillation light on two adjacent scintillator strips, it is necessary the readout electronics has high linearity and low noise. The possibility of the electronics channel multiplexing on the same detector plane is fully explored so that four WLS fibers can be read out by one SiPM realizing 2:1 readout channel compression. Furthermore, since multiple electronics modules are connected by a daisy chain structure, the electronics system is very scalable with its data acquisition system (DAQ) independent of detector size. In addition to detailing the position encoding readout scheme, the design of electronics module and the DAQ system, the electronics system has been implemented and applied to a prototype detector for performance evaluation. Using scintillator strips with 11 mm pitch size, the position resolution of the detector reaches 1.49 mm, which demonstrates that the designed electronics is suitable for the new detector structure, and the combination of the two has a good application prospect in muon imaging.

The development of segmented electrode thin-film parallel plate avalanche counter (PPAC)

In order to improve the counting rate and position resolution of the Parallel Plate Avalanche Counter (PPAC) within the Compact Spectrometer for Heavy Ion Experiment, a new strip film-structured PPAC has been developed. The developped PPAC detector consists of three layers of film electrodes. The upper and lower layers which serve as the anodes are comprised of self-developed strip film electrodes, oriented perpendicularly to each other. The middle layer utilizes double-sided aluminized Mylar film as the cathode. There is a 3 mm gap between each layer, and the detector has an effective area of 76 mm× 76 mm. Operating in a low-pressure environment with isobutane gas as the working medium, the performance of the PPAC has been measured using a 5.486 MeV α radiation source. The measurement results indicate that the overall position resolution of the PPAC attains approximately 380 μm, and the position resolution improves to 300 μm when using slit width correction. Finally, the Monte Carlo simulation has been performed to simulate the distribution of electrons generated by the detector's ionization under the same conditions on the anode readout strip. The simulation results closely matches the observed multiplicity of hit anode readout strips in measurement.

Silicon vertex detector of the Belle II experiment

The silicon vertex detector (SVD) is installed at the heart of the Belle II experiment, taking data at the high-luminosity B-Factory SuperKEKB since 2019. The SVD is a four-layer double-sided strip detector with tracking and particle-identification capabilities. In this paper, we report on the performance of the reconstruction of SVD hits. The detector has shown a stable and above-99% hit efficiency, with a large signal-to-noise in all sensors since the beginning of data taking. Cluster position and time resolution have been measured with 2020 and 2022 data and show excellent performance and stability. In particular, the cluster-position resolution is between 7 and 12 μm for the small-pitch sensors, in reasonable agreement with the expectations, while the cluster time resolution is measured to be below 3 ns. The effect of radiation damage is visible, but not affecting the performance. As the luminosity increases, higher machine backgrounds are expected and the excellent hit-time information in SVD can be exploited for background rejection. In particular, we have recently developed a novel procedure to select hits by grouping them event-by-event based on their time. This new procedure allows a significant reduction of the fake rate, while preserving the tracking efficiency, and it has therefore replaced the previous cut-based procedure. We have developed a method that uses the SVD hits to estimate the track time (previously unavailable) and the collision time. It has a similar precision to the estimate based on the drift chamber readout but its execution time is three orders of magnitude smaller, allowing a faster online reconstruction that is crucial in a high luminosity regime. The track time is a powerful information that allows, together with the aforementioned grouping selection, to raise the occupancy limit above that expected at nominal luminosity, leaving room for a safety factor. Finally, in June 2022 the data taking of the Belle II experiment was stopped to install a new two-layer DEPFET detector (PXD) and upgrade components of the accelerator. The whole silicon tracker (PXD+SVD) has been extracted from Belle II, the new PXD installed, the detector closed and commissioned. We briefly describe the SVD results of this upgrade.

Automating Robotic Micro-Assembly of Fluidic Chips and Single Fiber Compression Tests Based-on Θ Visual Measurement With High-Precision Fiducial Markers

At small scales, automating robotic tasks such as assembly, force/displacement characterization, positioning, etc., appear to be particularly limited. This is due to the lack of sufficiently performing and easy-to-implement multi-degrees-of-freedom measurement systems able to measure the relative pose between micro-parts. In order to address this issue, a measurement method based on High-Precision fiducial markers (named HP code) is proposed. This measurement method combines a periodic pattern (providing high resolution by phase-based computation) with more regular QR codes (bringing versatile implementations and a quick detection). The design and method to efficiently locate these HP codes are presented in this paper. Experimental investigations demonstrate ultra-high resolution: <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2$</tex-math> </inline-formula> nm and <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$5$</tex-math> </inline-formula> <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\upmu$</tex-math> </inline-formula> rad along <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$X,Y$</tex-math> </inline-formula> and <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Theta$</tex-math> </inline-formula> respectively (i.e. one thousandth of a pixel typically). The method is designed to be scalable as well as self-calibrated and to provide high robustness and high versatility. Two typical challenging applications in the field of microrobotics are automated to demonstrate these disruptive performances and the easy-to-implement capability of the method: (1) the automated assembly of two micro-fluidic chips through visual servoing with an achieved positioning accuracy below <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$50$</tex-math> </inline-formula> nm, and (2) the automated micromechanical characterization of single fibers achieved by the integration of HP codes into a compliant structure enabling simultaneous micro-force and displacement sensing capabilities. These achievements highlight the versatility of the method and open the door to the rapid automation of high-quality robotic tasks at the micro scale. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Note to Practitioners</i> —The motivation for this work/study is based on the fact that many application areas are extensively orienting towards microrobotic systems to perform precise tasks with versatility. However, at the micro scale, many disturbances such as the effects of climate change strongly affect this precision. This problem is amplified by the fact that sensors cannot be easily integrated, either by lack of space or by the lack of measurement systems available. Vision-based approaches are widespread at this scale and appear very promising to measure the relative pose between micro-parts. Nevertheless, existing vision-based approaches like digital image correlation are both scale and texture dependent. Due to the lack of space, they are also difficult to use in practice at small scales for high resolution measurement. The main contribution of this paper lies in the capability to achieve ultra-high resolution measurements. For that, a structure based on High-Precision fiducial markers (named HP codes) is proposed and requires few and simple settings while achieving very high resolution both in position and orientation, typically down to one thousandth of a pixel and a few micro radians, respectively. It provides an off-the-shelf solution, versatile, easy to implement and achieves high resolution measurements in the plane (XY <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Theta$</tex-math> </inline-formula> ). HP codes are applicable to a wide range of applications such as tracking of a component/part of a mobile or deformable system, visual servoing of microrobots, positioning of samples, assembly of components or even mechanical characterization. A free distribution of the library is available online at https://projects.femto-st.fr/ vernier/.