Determination of magnetic vortex polarity from a single Lorentz Fresnel image

Nanoscale confinement of the magnetization in a magnetic element often results in the creation of a vortex structure. The vortex equilibrium state is characterized by the curling of the in-plane magnetization (chirality) and an out-of-plane core magnetization. The polarity of the vortex core can point up or down, independent of the chirality, and, thus, magnetic elements with a vortex core are interesting as four-state logic elements. We present an easy-to-use, quantitative method for the determination of both chirality and polarity from a single Fresnel image. This method offers direct evidence of the three-dimensional structure of a magnetic vortex and has significant advantages over the more complex methods currently in use.     

Simultaneous measurement of magnetic vortex polarity and chirality using scanning electron microscopy with polarization analysis (SEMPA)

The magnetic vortex structure is an equilibrium configuration frequently found in patterned magnetic nanostructures. It is characterized by an in-plane curling of the magnetization with clockwise or anticlockwise chirality and by an out-of-plane vortex core that can have a positive or negative polarity. The small size of the vortex core, on the order of 10 nm, makes it technologically interesting due to potential data storage, but also difficult to measure or image directly. In this work, we used Scanning Electron Microscopy with Polarization Analysis (SEMPA) to directly image magnetic vortex cores in patterned NiFe/Ta bilayer structures. With SEMPA we can simultaneously measure the in-plane and the out-of-plane component of the surface magnetization and thereby determine both the vortex chirality and the vortex core polarity in a single measurement. Our magnetic simulation of the vortex core, considering only the exchange and magnetostatic energy, is in good agreement with the SEMPA measurement of the magnetization when other experimental factors are taken into account.     

Aspects regarding measurement of thickness of intergranular glassy films

Materials such as Si₃N₄, SiC and SrTiO₃ can have grain boundaries characterized by the presence of a thin intergranular amorphous film of nearly constant thickness, in some cases (e.g. Si₃N₄) almost independent of the orientation of the bounding grains, but dependent on the composition of the ceramic. Microscopy techniques such as high‐resolution lattice fringe imaging, Fresnel fringe imaging and diffuse dark field imaging have been applied to the study of intergranular glassy films. The theme of the current investigation is the use of Fresnel fringes and Fourier filtering for the measurement of the thickness of intergranular glassy films. Fresnel fringes hidden in high‐resolution micrographs can be used to objectively demarcate the glass–crystal interface and to measure the thickness of intergranular glassy films. Image line profiles obtained from Fourier filtering the high‐resolution micrographs can yield better estimates of the thickness. Using image simulation, various kinds of deviation from an ideal square‐well potential profile and their effects on the Fresnel image contrast are considered. A method is also put forth to objectively retrieve Fresnel fringe spacing data by Fourier filtering Fresnel contrast images. Difficulties arising from the use of the standard Fresnel fringe extrapolation technique are outlined and an alternative method for the measurement of the thickness of intergranular glassy films, based on zero‐defocus (in‐focus) Fresnel contrast images is suggested. The experimental work is from two ceramic systems: Lu‐Mg‐doped Si₃N₄ and SrTiO₃ (stoichiometric and nonstoichiometric). Further, a comparison is made between the standard high‐resolution lattice fringe technique, the standard Fresnel fringe extrapolation technique and the methods of analyses introduced in the current work, to illustrate their utility and merits. Taking experimental difficulties into account, this work is intended to be a practical tool kit for the study of intergranular glassy films.     

Imaging and thickness measurement of amorphous intergranular films using TEM

Fresnel fringe analysis is shown to be unreliable for grain boundaries in yttrium-doped alumina: the determined thicknesses do not agree well with those measured from high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), the asymmetry between under- and overfocus is very large, and Fresnel fringes are sometimes shown at boundaries which contain no amorphous film. An alternative approach to the analysis of HRTEM images of grain boundary films is demonstrated: Fourier filtering is used to remove the lattice fringes from the image thereby significantly enhancing the visibility of the intergranular films. The apparent film thickness shows a discrepancy between measurements from the original HRTEM image and the filtered image. It was shown that fringe delocalisation and diffuseness of the amorphous/crystalline interfaces will lead to a significant underestimate of the thickness in unprocessed HRTEM images. In contrast to this, the average thickness can be much more accurately measured from the Fourier-filtered image, provided the boundary is oriented accurately edge-on.     

Automatic focus correction for spot-scan imaging of tilted specimens.

The variation in defocus within an image of a highly tilted specimen can be a serious source of artifact. Spot-scan imaging can be combined with dynamic focusing to greatly reduce this range of defocus. A protocol is described for determining the parameters required for the automatic focus compensation during the recording of a spot-scan image. Images of a gold test specimen demonstrate the efficacy of this procedure in extending the area of the image that contains high-quality data. In case the tilt angle or resolution is high enough that the height difference of the specimen within each small illuminated area is larger than the depth of field, the image must be treated to compensate for the focus variation. The same principle is used as was developed for compensation of conventional images of tilted specimens.     

A comparison of the analysis of the Fresnel contrast in high- and low-resolution images for the characterization of the rigid body displacements at a grain boundary

The Fresnel contrast in high-resolution images of the Σ = 3{112} aluminium twin boundary is quantitatively assessed to determine whether the rigid body displacements might be measured. It is demonstrated that the effects of the shears at the boundary preclude this possibility. By comparison, simulations of low-resolution images of the same boundary show that the Fresnel fringe contrast in this type of image is negligibly affected by the shear displacements as well as being of considerably higher contrast. The reasons why it is thus only the low-resolution images that can provide high-resolution data on the displacements are discussed.     

基于梯度先验的水下图像恢复

由于水体对光线的吸收和散射作用,水下图像呈现出强衰减、高噪声和色彩畸变等问题,难以满足视觉观察和图像分析的需求。针对这一问题,提出了一种基于梯度先验的水下图像恢复方法,用以提高水下图像质量。首先,根据水下成像特性,建立水下图像梯度先验,水下图像中目标反射信息(水下清晰图层)的梯度大于散射噪声信息(水下噪声图层);其次,根据水下成像模型,对上述梯度先验进行表征建模;最后,建立水下图像的梯度分布优化函数,采用半二次优化方法分离出目标反信息,作为水下图像恢复结果。以UEIB和RUIE数据集为实验样本,与近年来所提出的5种水下图像处理方法进行比较,方法在定性和定量两类评价中均获得了出色的处理结果,峰值信噪比(PSNR)、结构相似性(SSIM)和水下图像质量评价指标(UIQM)评价指标分别达到20.066 5、0.696 1和3.902 9,均优于对比方法。因此,该方法能够有效地抑制水下图像噪声,提高水下图像的信噪比、清晰度和对比度。     

Determination of crystal polarity from bend contours in transmission electron microscope images

A new method for determining the polarity of crystals with sphalerite structure (GaAs, GaSb, InP, etc.) within the transmission electron microscope (TEM) is presented. The method is derived from an established convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED) method (J. Appl. Crystallogr. 15 (1982) 60) and exploits the effects of the dynamical scattering on the contrast of bend contour crossings in conventional TEM images. In contrast to the CBED method, the bend contour method is performed in the image mode of the TEM. The sample can, therefore, be viewed while performing the polarity analysis. Furthermore, in the presence of strong foil bending, the bend contour method has some advantages for practical work. A general contrast rule for the bend contour intersections is stated which allows to readily obtain the crystal polarity by comparing the contrast in experimental images with the prediction of the rule. Exemplarily, the polarity of GaAs in TEM samples prepared for investigation in the two frequently used projections < 001 > and < 110 > is determined. The validity of the rule for the cases studied is confirmed by simulations of the dynamical scattering process. Furthermore, an independent analysis of the crystal polarity by making use of a long-range-ordered (GaIn)P layer grown on top of the GaAs confirms the results obtained with the bend contour method. As an example, the usefulness of the method is demonstrated in an analysis of the alpha/beta-character of misfit dislocations at the interface between the GaAs substrate and the (GaIn)P layer.     

On the aerodynamic forces of a plunging airfoil

The generation of aerodynamic forces by a plunging NACA0012 airfoil at a Reynolds number of 20,000 was studied for a range of non-dimensional plunge frequenciesk and amplitudesh using a 2D unsteady compressible Navier-Stokes solver, an unsteady panel method (UPM) and Garrick’s analysis. Calculations using these two methods indicate that the forces collapse reasonably well withkh (or equivalents the Strouhal number), but are only weak functions ofk. In contrast results from the NS code indicate that the forces are dependent on bothk andkh independently, with large variations at low frequencies. The frequency dependence was found to be a result of vortex shedding from the leading edge of the airfoil, and appears to result from two factors. Firstly at high plunge frequenciesk, the leading edge vortex does not have sufficient time to grow, whereas at lowk the vortex can become a sizeable fraction of the airfoil chord before separating. Secondly once the vortex separates, it is convected downstream over the surface of the airfoil. Due to the low pressure in the vortex core, thrust is maintained while the vortex is upstream of the airfoil maximum thickness point (where the airfoil surface is tilted upstream and the vortex low pressure creates an upstream suction force). Once past this point, the airfoil surface is tilted downstream and the vortex contributes to drag rather than thrust. At high plunge frequencies the vortex cannot be convected far downstream before the motion cycle creates another leading edge vortex on the opposite side of the airfoil, so the impact is lessened. At lowk however the vortex travels far downstream over the airfoil surface, causing drag for a larger portion of the flapping cycle, and therefore lower propulsive efficiency. These results have strong implications on how the thrust and the propulsive efficiency can be maximised by controlling the relative amplitudes and phases of combined pitching and plunging motions of an airfoil.     

Computer-controlled spot-scan imaging of crotoxin complex crystals with 400 keV electrons at near-atomic resolution.

400 keV electrons yield a better relative image contrast than 100 keV electrons for a beam-sensitive organic crystal when spot-scan imaging is used [J. Brink and W. Chiu, J. Microscopy 161 (1991) 279]. A FORTRAN 77 program has been written to operate the spot-scan imaging system on a computer workstation under the VMS operating system which is interfaced serially to the JEOL4000 electron microscope. We demonstrate the application of this implementation by imaging crotoxin complex crystals embedded in either vitreous ice or glucose to 2.5 A resolution. The intensity strength of the structure factors of this protein crystal are different at low (> 10 A) resolution but similar at high resolution (< 10 A) for the two embedding media as expected from their scattering contrast difference. Based on our experience as judged from the electron diffraction patterns of highly tilted crystals, flat crystals embedded in glucose can be readily obtained. Furthermore, our spot-scan imaging system also has the option of correcting the focus gradient that is present in images of tilted specimens.     

Measurement of magnetic domain wall width using energy-filtered Fresnel images

Magnetic domain walls in Nd₂Fe₁₄B have been examined using a series of energy‐filtered Fresnel images in the field emission gun transmission electron microscope (FEGTEM). We describe the changes in the intensity distribution of the convergent wall image as a function of defocus, foil thickness and domain wall width. The effect of tilted domain walls and beam convergence on the fringe pattern is also discussed. A comparison of the experimental intensity profile with that from simulations allows the domain wall width to be determined. Measurement of very narrow walls is made possible only by using a relatively thick foil, which necessitates energy‐filtering to allow quantitative comparison with simulations. The magnetic domain wall width in Nd₂Fe₁₄B was found to be 3 ± 2 nm.     

A new method for the determination of the wave aberration function for high-resolution TEM.; 2. Measurement of the antisymmetric aberrations

A new method is presented for the determination of the antisymmetric coefficients of the wave aberration function from a tableau of tilted illumination images. The approach is based on measurements of the apparent defocus and two-fold astigmatism using a phase correlation function and phase contrast index calculated from a short focus series acquired at each tilt. This method is shown to be suitable for a wide range of specimens and is sufficiently accurate for exit plane wave restoration at 0.1 nm resolution. Experimental examples of this approach are provided and the method is compared to results obtained from measurements of conventional power spectra.     

Correction of autofocusing errors due to specimen tilt for automated electron tomography

Transmission electron microscopy images acquired under tilted‐beam conditions experience an image shift as a function of defocus settings – a fact that is exploited as a method for defocus determination in most of the automated tomography data collection systems. Although the method was shown to be highly accurate for a large variety of specimens, we point out that in its original design it can strictly only be applied to images of untilted samples. The application to tilted samples and thus in automated electron tomography is impaired mainly due to a defocus change across the images, resulting in reduced accuracy. In this communication we present a method that can be used to improve the accuracy of the basic autofocusing procedures currently used in systems for automated electron tomography.     

Image Quality

An image quality measure based on information theory in digital microscopy is presented. In contrast to ad hoc definitions, the approach discussed here associates image quality with information, based on the definition of entropy and channel capacity. The method takes into account the received image, the transfer characteristic of the system, and an estimate of the noise. Applications that motivate and exploit such measures are sequences of images that resemble the same object but have been recorded or processed differently. The evaluation of eight microscopic series is given as an example.     

Image simulations of kinked vortices for transmission electron microscopy

We present an improved model of kinked vortices in high-T_c superconductors suitable for the interpretation of Fresnel or holographic observations carried out with a transmission electron microscope. A kinked vortex is composed of two displaced half-vortices, perpendicular to the film plane, connected by a horizontal flux-line in the plane, resembling a connecting Josephson vortex (JV) segment. Such structures may arise when a magnetic field is applied almost in the plane, and the line tension of the fluxon breaks down under its influence. The existence of kinked vortices was hinted in earlier observations of high-T_c superconducting films, where the Fresnel contrast associated with some vortices showed a dumbbell like appearance. Here, we show that under suitable conditions the JV segment may reveal itself in Fresnel imaging or holographic phase mapping in a transmission electron microscope.     

Projected potential profiles across interfaces obtained by reconstructing the exit face wave function from through focal series

An iterative method for reconstructing the exit face wave function from a through focal series of transmission electron microscopy image line profiles across an interface is presented. Apart from high-resolution images recorded with small changes in defocus, this method works also well for a large defocus range as used for Fresnel imaging. Using the phase-object approximation the projected electrostatic as well as the absorptive potential profiles across an interface are determined from this exit face wave function. A new experimental image alignment procedure was developed in order to align images with large relative defocus shift. The performance of this procedure is shown to be superior to other image alignment procedures existing in the literature. The reconstruction method is applied to both simulated and experimental images.     

Three-channel false colour AFM images for improved interpretation of complex surfaces: A study of filamentous cyanobacteria

Imaging signals derived from the atomic force microscope (AFM) are typically presented as separate adjacent images with greyscale or pseudo-colour palettes. We propose that information-rich false-colour composites are a useful means of presenting three-channel AFM image data. This method can aid the interpretation of complex surfaces and facilitate the perception of information that is convoluted across data channels. We illustrate this approach with images of filamentous cyanobacteria imaged in air and under aqueous buffer, using both deflection-modulation (contact) mode and amplitude-modulation (tapping) mode. Topography-dependent contrast in the error and tertiary signals aids the interpretation of the topography signal by contributing additional data, resulting in a more detailed image, and by showing variations in the probe-surface interaction. Moreover, topography-independent contrast and topography-dependent contrast in the tertiary data image (phase or friction) can be distinguished more easily as a consequence of the three dimensional colour-space.     

Quantitative analysis of image contrast in electron micrographs of beam-sensitive crystals

The contrast in high resolution electron micrographs of three different thin crystals has been compared quantitatively with that predicted theoretically from separate measurements of thier electron diffraction patterns. The crystals were vermiculite, a mineral which is not greatly affected by the electron beam, and two organic specimens, n-paraffin and purple membrane, which are both destroyed by doses of about 1 electron/Ų. The results, all at 4.0 to 4.5 Å resolution, show that the absolute contrast in images of vermiculite is roughly 1/5th of that expected for a theoretically perfect microscope, whereas images of paraffin and purple membrane seldom reach more than 1/25th of theoretical contrast. Much of this loss of contrast can be explained on the basis of known microscope parameters in the case of the non-beam-sensitive specimens. However, for the images of paraffin and purple membrane, it is necessary to postulate that beam-induced specimen movement results in further substantial blurring of the image. The tendency for such movement to occur may be unavoidable since the molecular structure is being destroyed during the exposure. The magnitude of this movement must be reduced before the image contrast will be able to approach the theoretical limit.     

Differential phase contrast x-ray microimaging with scanning-imaging x-ray microscope optics

A novel x-ray microimaging system that consists of a scanning microscope optics with a one-dimensional focusing (line-focusing) device and an imaging microscope optics with a one-dimensional objective is developed. These two optical systems are set normal to each other regarding the optical axis. A two-dimensional image is obtained with one-dimensional translation scan of the line probe. During scans, positional data in the normal to the scanning direction are obtained simultaneously with the imaging microscope optics. Differential phase contrast (DPC) image and absorption contrast (AC) image can be arbitrarily obtained by image processing after data acquisition. Preliminary experiment has been carried out by using a couple of one-dimensional Fresnel zone plate as the linear-focusing device and the one-dimensional objective. Two-dimensional DPC and AC images of test sample have been successfully obtained with 8 keV x-rays.     

光学全息的数字实现

研究光学全息的数字模拟,探讨数字全息的数字重构方法,以菲涅耳衍射积分的实现方法为基础,采用MATLAB软件实现菲涅耳全息图的数字记录和数字重构模拟,给出模拟结果.利用离散菲涅耳衍射积分方法完成数字全息图的数字重构.利用数字图像处理方法对所得的数字全息图进行适当滤波处理,有利于消除零级像和孪生像,获得清晰的数字再现像.引入全息变换,根据全息图的不可撕毁性,研究了全息变换在数字图像压缩中的应用,对给定的二值化图像实现压缩存储及解压缩处理.