Near-field scanning optical microscopy using polymethylmethacrylate optical fiber probes

We report the first use of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) optical fiber-made probes for scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM). The sharp tips were prepared by chemical etching of the fibers in ethyl acetate, and the probes were prepared by proper gluing of sharpened fibers onto the tuning fork in the conditions of the double resonance (working frequency of a tuning fork coincides with the resonance frequency of dithering of the free-standing part of the fiber) reported earlier for the case of glass fibers. Quality factors of the probes in the range 2000–6000 were obtained, which enables the realization of an excellent topographical resolution including state-of-art imaging of single DNA molecules. Near-field optical performance of the microscope is illustrated by the Photon Scanning Tunneling Microscope images of fluorescent beads with a diameter of 100 nm. The preparation of these plastic fiber probes proved to be easy, needs no hazardous material and/or procedures, and typical lifetime of a probe essentially exceeds that characteristic for the glass fiber probe.     

Identification of weak interfaces in composites using transmission electron microscopy

A new experimental technique was developed to identify crack paths with a resolution of nanometres in fibre-reinforced composites. Cracks were introduced through Vickers indentations on one side of the sample prior to starting the thinning process. Indentations were placed close to the fibres in order to get enough cracks at the fibre/matrix interface in the electron-transparent region of the thinned sample. The technique was used in a Nicalon-fibre Al₂O₃ matrix composite prior to and after a heat treatment at 1200 °C for 1 h. The analysis of the crack paths allowed the identification of the weakest interface in each condition.     

Progressive steps in the development of electron backscatter diffraction and orientation imaging microscopy

Ten years ago electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) became available to a wider group active in materials research. This paper highlights some of the more significant developments in camera technology and software developments that have arisen since then. The use of slow‐scan charge couple device cameras for phase identification and rapid determination of orientation image micrographs is reviewed. The current limiting spatial resolution of the technique is shown to be less than 10 nm. A procedure for improving lattice spacing measurement by utilizing the full resolution of the camera is described with experimental measurements on silicon and nickel showing relative errors of plus/minus 3%. An investigation of partially recrystallized aluminium shows how the recrystallized fraction can be extracted with confidence but that the mapping of substructure in the highly deformed regions is questionable. Phase identification is described for complex cases in which the phase data tabulated in standard databases do not correspond to what is observed in the EBSD patterns. Phase mapping in a complex mineral in which chemical data and EBSD data are collected simultaneously is shown to be improved by recording both the chemical and the EBSD data into computer memory and proceeding with the phase discrimination and orientation measurement in off‐line analysis.     

Digital image acquisition in in vivo confocal microscopy

A flexible system for the real-time acquisition of in vivo images has been developed. Images are generated using a tandem scanning confocal microscope interfaced to a low-light-level camera. The video signal from the camera is digitized and stored using a Gould image processing system with a real-time digital disk (RTDD). The RTDD can store up to 3200 512 times 512 pixel images at video rates (30 images s^?1). Images can be input directly from the camera during the study, or off-line from a Super VHS video recorder. Once a segment of experimental interest is digitized onto the RTDD, the user can interactively step through the images, average stable sequences, and identify candidates for further processing and analysis. Examples of how this system can be used to study the physiology of various organ systems in vivo are presented.     

Raman microscopy of fibres and composites

Some of the progress made in using Raman microscopy to examine the structure and micromechanics of polymer and inorganic fibres is reviewed. Examples of how the technique has been used to verify some of the theories of composite reinforcement are then given. Finally, a specific example of how Raman microscopy has been used, in conjuction with other approaches, to understand the micromechanics of the microbond test, which is often used to measure interfacial shear strength in composite systems, is presented.     

Fractal compression and adaptive sampling: reducing the image acquisition time in scanning probe microscopy

In typical scanning probe microscope experiment a three‐dimensional image of a substrate is obtained. For a given scanning mechanism, the time needed to image an area depends mainly on the number of samples and the size of the image. The imaging speed is further compromised by drifts associated with the substrate and the piezoscanner. It is therefore desirable to improve the imaging speed with limited impact to the effective resolution of the resulting image. By utilizing an adaptive sampling scheme with fractal compression technique, we have demonstrated that the number of the required samples can be significantly reduced with minimal impact to the image quality. SCANNING 30: 463–473, 2008. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Reduction in acquisition time of scanning electron microscopy image using complex hysteresis smoothing

Complex hysteresis smoothing (CHS), which was developed for noise removal of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images some years ago, is utilized in acquisition of an SEM image. When using CHS together, recording time can be reduced without problems by about one-third under the condition of SEM signal with a comparatively high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). We do not recognize artificiality in a CHS-filtered image, because it has some advantages, that is, no degradation of resolution, only one easily chosen processing parameter (this parameter can be fixed and used in this study), and no processing artifacts. This originates in the fact that its criterion for distinguishing noise depends simply on the amplitude of the SEM signal. The automation of reduction in acquisition time is not difficult, because CHS successfully works for almost all varieties of SEM images with a fairly high SNR.     

强度渊制光纤位姿传感器的检测性能提高技术

本文研究了强度调制光纤传感器的反射信号检测技术，提出基于直扫描光电二极管阵列(SSPA)取样积分的时域光强检测方法，它具有信号处理简单，有效抑制环境光和电路背景噪声影响的特点．该方法的实施有效地提高了强度调制传感器的测量精度和稳定性。     

Centroid precision and orientation precision of planar localization microscopy

The concept of localization precision, which is essential to localization microscopy, is formally extended from optical point sources to microscopic rigid bodies. Measurement functions are presented to calculate the planar pose and motion of microscopic rigid bodies from localization microscopy data. Physical lower bounds on the associated uncertainties – termed centroid precision and orientation precision – are derived analytically in terms of the characteristics of the optical measurement system and validated numerically by Monte Carlo simulations. The practical utility of these expressions is demonstrated experimentally by an analysis of the motion of a microelectromechanical goniometer indicated by a sparse constellation of fluorescent nanoparticles. Centroid precision and orientation precision, as developed here, are useful concepts due to the generality of the expressions and the widespread interest in localization microscopy for super‐resolution imaging and particle tracking.     

An imaging technique using rotational polarization microscopy for the microstructure analysis of carbon/carbon composites

A novel image analysis technique was proposed for microstructure investigation of carbon/carbon (C/C) composites. The rotational polarization microscopy was developed to meet the special imaging requirements. The samples of C/C composites were observed in reflection polarized light microscope, where the analyzer was rotated instead of the stage, and the polarizer was taken out. The bireflectance of like-graphite negative uniaxial crystal was analyzed. It was the theoretic foundation of image collection and data processing. The analyzer was rotated through 36 × 10° intervals without any movement of the specimen. The polished cross-section of C/C composites took micrographs at each analyzer orientation. All image data collected from the same field of view were processed by image registration and image fusion. The synthesized images were obtained by calculating the maximum and minimum gray values and their differences at each point of the million pixels at 18 orientations of the analyzer. They are unique and quite reliable to be applied to analyze the microstructure of C/C composites. Subsequently, image segmentation was performed, and the feature parameters of each component were calculated. Good agreement was found between the results from image analysis and experimental data.     

大口径空间光学遥感器的碳纤维复合材料精密支撑构件的结构稳定性研究

摘要：为了研究应用于大口径空间光学遥感器中由碳纤维复合材料（CFRP）制成的精密支撑构件的结构稳定性,设计并研制了连接在主、次镜间的CFRP连接筒。对该连接筒建立等效力学模型、计算相关参数和确定铺层的合理形式,运用有限元法对连接筒进行分析计算,通过试验验证连接筒的结构稳定性。首先,由给定的主、次镜间角度变化量计算出连接筒前端面的最大挠度,根据实际载荷情况建立等效力学模型,计算连接筒轴向弹性模量,结合复合材料层压板理论,确定碳纤维铺层的合理形式。然后,运用ANSYS软件对有限元模型进行分析,计算主、次镜间的角度变化量和支撑结构的模态分布。最后,通过量级逐增的力学试验,采用光学测量的方法测量主、次镜间角度变化量,验证CFRP连接筒的结构稳定性。试验结果表明：主、次镜间角度变化量小于10″,CFRP支撑构件一阶基频大于75Hz。CFRP支撑构件满足主、次镜间角度变化量要求,具有较好的结构稳定性。     

Solid particle erosion of unidirectional fibre reinforced thermoplastic composites

In the present study, the solid particle erosion behaviour of neat PEEK matrix and unidirectional glass fibre (GF) and carbon fibre (CF) reinforced polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and polyetherketoneketone (PEKK) composites has been studied. The erosion experiments have been carried out by using silica sand particles (200 ± 50 μm) as an erodent. Steady state erosion rates of these composites have been evaluated at different impact angles and impact velocities. The neat PEEK exhibited peak erosion rate at 30° impingement angle whereas the composites exhibited a semi-ductile behaviour with peak erosion rate at 60° impact angle. The erosion rate of the glass fibre reinforced composites was higher than that of the carbon fibre reinforced composites. The results show that the fibre orientation has a significant influence on erosion rate only at lower impact angles. The erosion rate of the composites was higher when the particles impact perpendicular to the fibre direction than parallel to the fibres. The morphology of eroded surfaces was observed under scanning electron microscope and damage mechanisms were discussed.     

光纤光栅传感测量网络中数据采集的实现

设计了一种用于光纤光栅传感测量网络的数据采集系统．给出了系统的基本电路连接围，详细分析了信号的检测．放大．滤波及转换处理，该系统较好地应用到光纤光栅传感测量实验中。     

基于光纤和平面反射镜改变光路的吸光度测定装置设计及应用

基于光纤和平面反射镜改变光传播方向的特性,设计了与商品化分光光度计相匹配的吸光度测定装置,并采用3D打印制作测定装置。将测定装置装配在VIS-723N分光光度计上,研究了水样浊度(T)对亚硝酸根离子显色络合物吸光度测量的影响,当亚硝酸根离子浓度在0～0.64mg/L范围内时,因试样浊度产生的吸光度(A_T)与因亚硝酸根离子显色络合物产生的吸光度具有加和性。通过大量实验,推导出A_T=7×10^(-4)T+0.011(n=12,R^2=0.9617)。进而,建立了水样中亚硝酸根离子的吸光光度法,即:水样可以不过滤,按标准方法加入试剂显色,测得吸光度A_S;同时,用以上推导公式计算A_T;以A_S-A_T代入常规标准曲线方程即可计算待测水样中的亚硝酸根离子浓度。分别用本研究建立的方法和标准方法测定了10个实际水样中的亚硝酸根离子,两者测定结果无显著差异。     

提高光纤传感测量精度的方法研究

采用激光干涉原理实现了微位移光纤传感测量.通过对光学系统和光电检测系统的研究,总结出提高光纤传感测量精度的方法,文中对微弱光信号的相位调制,数字解理过程,给出了低噪声设计的理论依据,电路参数的选取原则和预放级设计的一般方法.系统微位移测试精度约0.05nm.     

Automatic particle detection in microscopy using temporal correlations

One of the fundamental problems in the analysis of single particle tracking data is the detection of individual particle positions from microscopy images. Distinguishing true particles from noise with a minimum of false positives and false negatives is an important step that will have substantial impact on all further analysis of the data. A common approach is to obtain a plausible set of particles from a larger set of candidate particles by filtering using manually selected threshold values for intensity, size, shape, and other parameters describing a particle. This introduces subjectivity into the analysis and hinders reproducibility. In this paper, we introduce a method for automatic selection of these threshold values based on maximizing temporal correlations in particle count time series. We use Markov Chain Monte Carlo to find the threshold values corresponding to the maximum correlation, and we study several experimental data sets to assess the performance of the method in practice by comparing manually selected threshold values from several independent experts with automatically selected threshold values. We conclude that the method produces useful results, reducing subjectivity and the need for manual intervention, a great benefit being its easy integratability into many already existing particle detection algorithms. Microsc. Res. Tech., 76:997–1006, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

待测介质折射率对光纤SPR光谱的特性研究

为提高光纤传感器的灵敏度和检测精度,达到精确测量的目的。基于表面等离子体共振(SPR)理论及TFCalc软件,仿真研究光纤表面等离子体共振传感器的反射光谱特性,考查待测介质折射率在一定范围内变化对反射光谱特性的影响。研究结果表明,当入射角一定时,表面等离子体共振的最佳膜厚随待测介质折射率的减小而减小;当膜厚和入射角度不变时,表面等离子体共振波长随待测介质折射率的减小向短波长方向移动。共振吸收峰随待测介质折射率的减小移动的距离越小,且逐渐变窄,传感器的灵敏度逐渐提高。