Enhancing image quality of scanning electrochemical microscopy by improved probe fabrication and displacement

2005 ◽  
Vol 83 (10) ◽  
pp. 1779-1791 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renkang Zhu ◽  
Zhifeng Ding
Keyword(s):  
Image Quality ◽  
Closed Loop ◽  
Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy ◽  
Image Resolution ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Scanning System ◽  
Cyclic Voltammograms ◽  
Electrode Arrays ◽  
Electrochemical Microscopy

Scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) is a powerful tool for its wide applications in determining charge transfer kinetics, imaging chemical reactions and topography, as well as fabricating microstructures at various interfaces and (or) surfaces. Imaging applications, in particular, rely on the natures of SECM probes and the scanning systems to move them in the vicinity of interfaces. While progress has been made in new approaches to tip fabrication, there are few reports on the improvement of the tip positioning system to enhance SECM image quality. We have recently built an advanced SECM setup using a closed-loop scanning system and improved probe fabrication and characterization procedures. Here we will describe this development, as well as the application of these techniques to greatly improve the quality of SECM images. Video micrograph, cyclic voltammograms, and SECM approach curves (current vs. tip–substrate distance) were chosen to characterize probe quality and to determine the ratio of electrode diameter to glass sheath diameter. The SECM setup has a resolution and repeatability of 20 nm in three dimensions (x, y, and z) and can locate and relocate areas of interest precisely after a coarse image. Interdigitated electrode arrays of platinum and gold were first imaged. Image resolution revealed by sharpness of Pt band edges was enhanced by using a 2 µm diameter electrode. Pt or Au band height was found to be around 80–200 nm by fitting the approach curves to the theoretical ones. Imaging conditions such as delay time for a large step size between two succeeding data points were optimized. To test its thermal and temporal stability, the system was then used to image letters, which were printed on a transparency with font bold Courier New and font size 2. Minor drifts were found during the image process up to the experimental length of 8 h and 45 min. Letter thickness was found to be 1.0–1.2 µm. A silicon substrate with an array of square pits spaced apart on 10 µm centers was finally imaged. Good quality images were obtained at various tip–substrate distances even though the squares were just as small, if not smaller, than the tip. The samples were also imaged by AFM for comparison.Key words: scanning electrochemical microscopy, atomic force microscopy, microelectrode fabrication, closed-loop imaging, probe approach curve.

Scanning electrochemical microscopy. 11. Improvement of image resolution by digital processing techniques

1991 ◽  
Vol 63 (21) ◽  
pp. 2442-2447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chongmok. Lee ◽  
David O. Wipf ◽  
Allen J. Bard ◽  
Keith. Bartels ◽  
Alan C. Bovik
Keyword(s):  
Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy ◽  
Digital Processing ◽  
Image Resolution ◽  
Processing Techniques ◽  
Electrochemical Microscopy

Looks Clear and Sounds Familiar: How Consumers Form Inferential Beliefs About Luxury Hotel Service Quality

2021 ◽  
pp. 193896552110168
Author(s):  
Sann Ryu ◽  
Yun-na Park ◽  
Jungkun Park
Keyword(s):  
Image Quality ◽  
Service Quality ◽  
Image Resolution ◽  
Processing Fluency ◽  
Photographic Image ◽  
Brand Familiarity ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Luxury Hotel ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this study is to examine how varying levels of brand familiarity and photographic image quality of hotel pictures influence consumers’ perceptions about luxury hotel services and attitudinal responses and whether their visual aesthetic experience and inferential beliefs about service quality can mediate such effects. This is a 2 (brand familiarity: familiar vs. unfamiliar brand) × 2 (image quality: high vs. low image resolution) factorial design randomized experiment and the proposed model was tested using a structural equation model ( N = 430). The proposed model was confirmed that consumers viewed the visual appearance of a hotel suite room (varying in image quality) and brand name (varying in brand familiarity), experienced processing fluency, drew inferential beliefs (about tangible and intangible service quality), formed attitudes toward the brand, and purchase intentions. The study presents an explanatory framework that delineates how varying hotel-related cues in an online setting can shape consumers’ perceptions and judgments of a luxury hotel brand. To one’s best knowledge, no research has examined the impact of both brand familiarity and photographic image quality of a hotel room. More importantly, this study reveals to what extent consumers’ inferential beliefs about service quality can be influenced by the heuristic cues and provides direct evidence for the mediating role of processing fluency and aesthetic appreciation.

scholarly journals Visual discrimination of hygiene tissue softness in the absence of haptic feedback

TAPPI Journal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (08) ◽  
pp. 439-449
Author(s):  
Jessica Carette ◽  
Pierre- Majorique Leger ◽  
Sylvain Senecal
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Surface Roughness ◽  
Image Quality ◽  
Visual Discrimination ◽  
Haptic Feedback ◽  
Image Resolution ◽  
Color Tone ◽  
Lighting Conditions ◽  
Point Of Purchase

Our perception of the softness of materials is dominated by the subjective interpretation of haptic stimuli — touch. Although softness is defined by the way a material deforms when force is applied, other sensorial inputs, such as vision and hearing, can be used to complement haptic feedback or when the material cannot be touched. Surface and bulk softness elements of hygiene tissue, such as surface roughness, embossing pattern, and bulk can be assessed visually. Softness is reported as the number one desired quality of hygiene tissue. So, it is of paramount importance to understand the criteria a consumer uses to judge softness visually. Consumers must rely on these other non-tactile senses at point-of-purchase or in e-commerce because they cannot interact with a product to judge the softness. This study proposes that a consumer can accurately gauge softness by sight alone, and that factors such as color tone, embossing, and image quality all affect the perception of softness. Stiffness and mechanical properties of the sheet cannot be observed by eye and can contribute to errors in visual judgement. We conducted an experiment using a complete pair ratio (round-robin) type comparison to evaluate the perceived softness of altered images of hygiene tissue with unaltered images. Images of hygiene tissue were altered to represent different lighting conditions or product color and digital image degradation. Our results suggest that yellow hygiene tissue is perceived as less soft than blue, and un-embossed tissue as less soft that embossed tissue. Reducing the image resolution to 10% of the original did not negatively affect the perception of softness.

Teledentistry: protocols for the transmission of digitized radiographs of the temporomandibular joint

1996 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 217-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Eduardo Eraso ◽  
William C. Scarfe ◽  
Yoshihiko Hayakawa ◽  
Jane Goldsmith ◽  
Allan G. Farman
Keyword(s):  
Image Quality ◽  
Temporomandibular Joint ◽  
Image Resolution ◽  
Transmission Time ◽  
Digitized Images ◽  
Better Than

Tomograms of the temporomandibular joint were digitized in three different formats using a PC-based system. The image resolution for various projections was determined at different camera-film distances. Three series of images were transmitted by telephone, and transmission times were measured. The original radiographs, the digitized images, the transmitted images and the transmitted-and-printed images were presented to 10 observers, who were asked to rate image quality. No difference in image quality was found between the initial digitized and the transmitted images. However, transmitted and transmitted-and-printed images were of significantly lower quality than the original radiographs or the digitized images viewed on a computer monitor. Transmission time was reduced significantly 50 by cropping the images before transmission. The image quality of individual radiographs was better than radiographs formatted as a series.

Evaluating the Quality of Human Embryos with a Measurement of Oxygen Consumption by Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy

2008 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takafumi Utsunomiya ◽  
Kaori Goto ◽  
Megumi Nasu ◽  
Yoko Kumasako ◽  
Yasuhisa Araki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Consumption ◽  
Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy ◽  
Human Embryos ◽  
Electrochemical Microscopy

Observability of Very Thick Specimen by Using Transmission Scanning Electron Microscope

1971 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 26-27
Author(s):  
K. Shibatomi ◽  
T. Yamanoto ◽  
H. Koike
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Image Quality ◽  
Scanning Electron Microscope ◽  
Chromatic Aberration ◽  
Image Contrast ◽  
Objective Lens ◽  
Thick Specimen ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Scanning Electron

In the observation of a thick specimen by means of a transmission electron microscope, the intensity of electrons passing through the objective lens aperture is greatly reduced. So that the image is almost invisible. In addition to this fact, it have been reported that a chromatic aberration causes the deterioration of the image contrast rather than that of the resolution. The scanning electron microscope is, however, capable of electrically amplifying the signal of the decreasing intensity, and also free from a chromatic aberration so that the deterioration of the image contrast due to the aberration can be prevented. The electrical improvement of the image quality can be carried out by using the fascionating features of the SEM, that is, the amplification of a weak in-put signal forming the image and the descriminating action of the heigh level signal of the background. This paper reports some of the experimental results about the thickness dependence of the observability and quality of the image in the case of the transmission SEM.

The influence of confocal microscope design on imaging performance

1993 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 144-145
Author(s):  
C J R Sheppard
Keyword(s):  
Image Quality ◽  
Fluorescence Imaging ◽  
Confocal Microscope ◽  
Industrial Applications ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Weak Signals ◽  
Size And Shape ◽  
Imaging Performance ◽  
Fundamental Limitation

The confocal microscope is now widely used in both biomedical and industrial applications for imaging, in three dimensions, objects with appreciable depth. There are now a range of different microscopes on the market, which have adopted a variety of different designs. The aim of this paper is to explore the effects on imaging performance of design parameters including the method of scanning, the type of detector, and the size and shape of the confocal aperture.It is becoming apparent that there is no such thing as an ideal confocal microscope: all systems have limitations and the best compromise depends on what the microscope is used for and how it is used. The most important compromise at present is between image quality and speed of scanning, which is particularly apparent when imaging with very weak signals. If great speed is not of importance, then the fundamental limitation for fluorescence imaging is the detection of sufficient numbers of photons before the fluorochrome bleaches.

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