Photo-Thermal Spectroscopic Imaging of MEMS Structures with Sub-Micron Spatial Resolution

2012 ◽  
Vol 1415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Furstenberg ◽  
Christopher A. Kendziora ◽  
Michael R. Papantonakis ◽  
Viet Nguyen ◽  
R. A. McGill

ABSTRACTWe are developing a new non-contact and non-destructive imaging technique which requires no sample preparation and provides similar content information as FTIR or Raman spectroscopy while being immune to fluorescence and offers a potentially faster scan rate and/or higher spatial resolution. It utilizes photo-thermal heating of the sample with a quantum cascade laser (or other suitable infrared laser) and measuring the resulting increase in thermal emissions by either an infrared (IR) detector or a laser probe consisting of a visible laser reflected from the sample. The latter case allows for further increases in the spatial resolution from ∼10 μm to ∼1 μm or better, with suitable experimental conditions. Since the thermal emission signal is proportional to the absorption coefficient, by tuning the wavelength of the IR laser we can directly measure the IR spectrum of the sample. By raster scanning over the surface of the sample we can obtain maps of the chemical composition of the sample surface. We demonstrate this technique by imaging the surface of a micro-fabricated flow-through chemical vapor preconcentrator consisting of a silicon frame and a suspended-perforated polyimide membrane with a pair of platinum heater traces, coated with a custom sorbent polymer for selective sorption of analyte. We measure the spatial resolution of our photo-thermal imaging system as well as discuss the conditions under which the spatial resolution can be further increased from the far-field diffraction limited resolution given by the combination of the imaging optic and IR excitation laser wavelength.

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1348
Author(s):  
Pamela Miśkiewicz ◽  
Magdalena Tokarska ◽  
Iwona Frydrych ◽  
Marcin Makówka

Innovative textile materials can be obtained by depositing different coatings. To improve the thermal properties of textiles, aluminum and zirconium (IV) oxides were deposited on the Nomex® fabric, basalt fabric, and cotton fabric with flame-retardant finishing using the magnetron sputtering method. An assessment of coating quality was conducted. Evenly coated fabric ensures that there are no places on the sample surface where the values of thermal parameters such as resistance to contact heat and radiant heat deviate significantly from the specified ones. Energy-dispersive spectroscopy was used for the analysis of modified fabric surfaces. Non-contact digital color imaging system DigiEye was also used. The criterion allowing one to compare surfaces and find which surface is more evenly coated was proposed. The best fabrics from the point of view of coating quality were basalt and cotton fabrics coated with aluminum as well as basalt fabric coated with zirconia. The probability of occurrence of places on the indicated sample surfaces where the values of thermal parameters (i.e., resistance to contact heat and radiant heat) deviated significantly from the specified ones was smaller for Nomex® and cotton fabrics coated with zirconia and Nomex® fabric coated with aluminum.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 2275
Author(s):  
Hae Gyun Lim ◽  
Hyung Ham Kim ◽  
Changhan Yoon

High-frequency ultrasound (HFUS) imaging has emerged as an essential tool for pre-clinical studies and clinical applications such as ophthalmic and dermatologic imaging. HFUS imaging systems based on array transducers capable of dynamic receive focusing have considerably improved the image quality in terms of spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) compared to those by the single-element transducer-based one. However, the array system still suffers from low spatial resolution and SNR in out-of-focus regions, resulting in a blurred image and a limited penetration depth. In this paper, we present synthetic aperture imaging with a virtual source (SA-VS) for an ophthalmic application using a high-frequency convex array transducer. The performances of the SA-VS were evaluated with phantom and ex vivo experiments in comparison with the conventional dynamic receive focusing method. Pre-beamformed radio-frequency (RF) data from phantoms and excised bovine eye were acquired using a custom-built 64-channel imaging system. In the phantom experiments, the SA-VS method showed improved lateral resolution (>10%) and sidelobe level (>4.4 dB) compared to those by the conventional method. The SNR was also improved, resulting in an increased penetration depth: 16 mm and 23 mm for the conventional and SA-VS methods, respectively. Ex vivo images with the SA-VS showed improved image quality at the entire depth and visualized structures that were obscured by noise in conventional imaging.


2012 ◽  
Vol 510-511 ◽  
pp. 118-123
Author(s):  
M. Mansoor

A step-by-step, hierarchical approach is explored in the present work to purify and functionalize carbon nanotubes synthesized by chemical vapor deposition. Attempts are made to purify and functionalize CNTs without extinguishing their aspect ratios. The carbon impurities are removed by thermal oxidation, whilst the unprotected metallic catalyst particles are eliminated by wet oxidation, subsequently; CNT bundles are de-roped by surfactant assisted sonication. Finally, protected metallic catalyst particles are removed and functional groups (hydroxyl and carboxyl) are attached by acid treatment and wet oxidation, respectively. The derivate CNTs are characterized using zeta potential measurements, TGA, XRD, FTIR and SEM. The characterization showed that in optimum experimental conditions the catalytic particles are removed upto 80%, the carbon impurities are eliminated upto 95% and chemical functionalities of hydroxyl and carboxyl is occurred with noticeable de-roping of the CNT bundles.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. T12005
Author(s):  
J. Nagata ◽  
S. Yamamoto ◽  
Y. Noguchi ◽  
T. Nakaya ◽  
K. Okudaira ◽  
...  

Abstract In high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy, verification of the Ir-192 source's position during treatment is needed because such a source is extremely radioactive. One of the methods used to measure the source position is based on imaging the gamma rays from the source, but the absolute position in a patient cannot be confirmed. To confirm the absolute position, it is necessary to acquire an optical image in addition to the gamma ray image at the same time as well as the same position. To simultaneously image the gamma ray and optical images, we developed an imaging system composed of a low-sensitivity, high-resolution gamma camera integrated with a CMOS camera. The gamma camera has a 1-mm-thick cerium-doped yttrium aluminum perovskite (YAIO3: YAP(Ce)) scintillator plate optically coupled to a position-sensitive photomultiplier (PSPMT), and a 0.1-mm-diameter pinhole collimator was mounted in front of the camera to improve spatial resolution and reduce sensitivity. We employed the concept of a periscope by placing two mirrors tilted at 45 degrees facing each other in front of the gamma camera to image the same field of view (FOV) for the gamma camera and the CMOS camera. The spatial resolution of the imaging system without the mirrors at 100 mm from the Ir-192 source was 3.2 mm FWHM, and the sensitivity was 0.283 cps/MBq. There was almost no performance degradation observed when the mirrors were positioned in front of the gamma camera. The developed system could measure the Ir-192 source positions in optical and gamma ray images. We conclude that the developed imaging system has the potential to measure the absolute position of an Ir-192 source in real-time clinical measurements.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. C. Hulley ◽  
R. M. Duren ◽  
F. M. Hopkins ◽  
S. J. Hook ◽  
N. Vance ◽  
...  

Abstract. Currently large uncertainties exist associated with the attribution and quantification of fugitive emissions of criteria pollutants and greenhouse gases such as methane across large regions and key economic sectors. In this study, data from the airborne Hyperspectral Thermal Emission Spectrometer (HyTES) have been used to develop robust and reliable techniques for the detection and wide-area mapping of emission plumes of methane and other atmospheric trace gas species over challenging and diverse environmental conditions with high spatial resolution that permits direct attribution to sources. HyTES is a pushbroom imaging spectrometer with high spectral resolution (256 bands from 7.5–12 µm), wide swath (1–2 km), and high spatial resolution (~2 m at 1 km altitude) that incorporates new thermal infrared (TIR) remote sensing technologies. In this study we introduce a hybrid Clutter Matched Filter (CMF) and plume dilation algorithm applied to HyTES observations to efficiently detect and characterize the spatial structures of individual plumes of CH4, H2S, NH3, NO2, and SO2 emitters. The sensitivity and field of regard of HyTES allows rapid and frequent airborne surveys of large areas including facilities not readily accessible from the surface. The HyTES CMF algorithm produces plume intensity images of methane and other gases from strong emission sources. The combination of high spatial resolution and multi-species imaging capability provides source attribution in complex environments. The CMF-based detection of strong emission sources over large areas is a fast and powerful tool needed to focus more computationally intensive retrieval algorithms to quantify emissions with error estimates, and is useful for expediting mitigation efforts and addressing critical science questions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 225 ◽  
pp. 07002
Author(s):  
H. Al Hamrashdi ◽  
S. D. Monk ◽  
D. Cheneler

The design and configuration of a multi-layered imaging system with the ability to detect thermal neutrons, fast neutrons and gamma rays has been developed and its efficacy demonstrated. The work presented here numerically determines the systems efficiency and spatial resolution, using 252Cf and 137Cs as a case study. The novelty of this detection system lies in the use of small form factor detectors in a three-layer design, which utilises neutron elastic scattering and Compton scattering simultaneously. The current configuration consists of 10 mm thick natural lithium glass (GS10) scintillator integrated with a 20 mm thick plastic scintillator (EJ-204) in the first layer, a 15 mm thick lithium glass (GS10) scintillator in the second and a 30 mm thick CsI(Tl) scintillator forming the final layer. Each of these layers is backed with an 8 x 8 silicon photomultiplier diode (SiPM) array. The overall size of the imaging system is 27 mm x 27 mm x 135 mm. MCNPv6.1 and Geant4-10.04 were alternatively used to optimise the overall configuration and to investigate detection modalities. Results show promising performance with high precision source localisation and characterization abilities. Measurements were virtually obtained of two gamma-ray sources within steel enclosures at angles of 15°, 30° and 50° separation in order to test spatial resolution ability of the system. With the current active size of the system and the 8x8 SiPM configuration, the results estimate the spatial resolution to be close to 30°. The ability of the system to characterise and identify sources based on the type and energy of the radiation emitted, has been investigated and results show that for all radiation types the system can identify the source energy within the energy range of typical reported sources in literature.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 791 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Aiazzi ◽  
Massimo Selva ◽  
Alberto Arienzo ◽  
Stefano Baronti

A noticeable topic to be pursued in the field of on-board real-time data processing is the influence of the modulation transfer function (MTF) of the image acquisition system on the lossless compressibility of raw (that is, uncalibrated) hyperspectral data. Actually, notwithstanding the system device is constrained by several design and manufacturing requirements, the impact of the on-board MTF on the performance of data compressors is becoming remarkable. In particular, the aim of reducing both transmission bandwidth/power and mass storage can be efficiently pursued. Such an analysis is expected to be useful especially for systems employed in mini-satellites, whose payload must be compact and light. From this perspective, this paper investigates the performance of a typical imaging system that acquires low/medium-spatial-resolution images, by considering high-resolution reference data, which simulate the real scene to be imaged. To this end, standard Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) Aviris 2006 data have been chosen, due to their spatial resolution of 17 m, which is adequate to be a reference for simulated data whose spatial resolution is foreseen between 50 and 150 m. MTF requirements are usually provided based on the cut-off value of the amplitude at the Nyquist frequency, which is defined as a half of the sampling frequency. Typically, a cut-off value between 0 . 2 and 0 . 3 ensures that a sufficient amount of information is delivered from the scene to the acquired image, by avoiding at the same time the degradation due to an excessive aliasing distortion. All the scores are achieved by running the standard lossless compression scheme CCSDS 1.2.3.0-B-1 for multispectral/hyperspectral data, as a function of the cut-off value and different noise acquisition levels. The final results, and related plots, show that this analysis can suggest a suitable choice for the cut-off value, to ensure both a sufficient quality and low bit rates for the transmitted data to the ground station.


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