Algorithm of fundamental parameters for the SEICXRF method

An algorithm based on fundamental parameters and applied to the SEICXRF method, developed by one of the authors, is presented. The methodology used in the calculation is similar to the Rousseau fundamental parameters method, but the main difference is the considerations about the x‐ray secondary fluorescence. In the new experimental method, the fluorescence yield by photons corresponding to the absorption edges with energies greater than the absorption edge energy of analyte does not occur. This secondary fluorescence appears in the calculation of the total fluorescence as a consequence of the integral count of the fluorescent emission from the sample. It is created by the primary fluorescence yield of the atoms whose absorption edge energies are less than the primary fluorescence energy of the analyte. The algorithm also considers the effect of the decrease of the sample fluorescent background just at the jump, originated by the change of the absorption coefficient at the absorption edge energy of the element of interest. Considering these two effects, including the primary fluorescence in the calculation, allows one to obtain the net fluorescence originated by the analyte at its own absorption edge. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Speckle characteristics of a broad-area VCSEL in the incoherent emission regime

We present a technique to reduce the speckle contrast of a NIR broad-area VCSEL based on the spatially incoherent emission regime that can be obtained when using the proper driving conditions. We evaluate the efficiency of this technique to reduce the speckle contrast by comparing it with the speckle characteristics in multimode emission under cw operation. Depending on the illumination setup, the incoherent emission regime can lead to a strongly reduced speckle contrast down to 1.3%. This is in agreement with estimates of the expected speckle contrast reduction when three contrast reducing effects are taken into account. These low contrast values make the investigated sources attractive for several applications that suffer from speckle noise.     

Improvement of the sensitivity in velocity sensing using dynamic speckles

Dynamic speckle patterns can be used for imaging of relative velocity of moving objects in fields of biomedical and mechanical measurements. In spite of the widespread use of this method, the effect of speckle size on velocity sensing has not fully been estimated so far. In addition, effects of speckle contrast and random noises on the sensitivity of velocity sensing have not been investigated yet. In the present study, we estimated condition of image processing of speckle patterns for reducing effects of random noises with relation to linearity and sensitivity in velocity sensing. We further introduced binarization of the speckle pattern to improve the sensitivity in velocity sensing. Experiments were conducted for sample models using a diffusive plate and fluid flows to confirm the feasibility of the proposed method.     

Effect of absorption on surface speckles in random media

We investigate the intensity fluctuations of light backscattered from absorbing random media. A numerical simulation which takes into account the interference among different scattering paths reveals that the contrast of speckle patterns appearing at the surface of the medium decreases with an increase of absorption in weak absorption regime, but increases for strong absorption. It is shown from a simple theoretical model that such a contrast variation is caused by changes in the power of diffusive-scattering waves and in the amplitude distribution of single and low-order scattering waves.     

Current status of the TwinMic beamline at Elettra: a soft X‐ray transmission and emission microscopy station

The current status of the TwinMic beamline at Elettra synchrotron light source, that hosts the European twin X‐ray microscopy station, is reported. The X‐ray source, provided by a short hybrid undulator with source size and divergence intermediate between bending magnets and conventional undulators, is energy‐tailored using a collimated plane‐grating monochromator. The TwinMic spectromicroscopy experimental station combines scanning and full‐field imaging in a single instrument, with contrast modes such as absorption, differential phase, interference and darkfield. The implementation of coherent diffractive imaging modalities and ptychography is ongoing. Typically, scanning transmission X‐ray microscopy images are simultaneously collected in transmission and differential phase contrast and can be complemented by chemical and elemental analysis using across‐absorption‐edge imaging, X‐ray absorption near‐edge structure or low‐energy X‐ray fluorescence. The lateral resolutions depend on the particular imaging and contrast mode chosen. The TwinMic range of applications covers diverse research fields such as biology, biochemistry, medicine, pharmacology, environment, geochemistry, food, agriculture and materials science. They will be illustrated in the paper with representative results.     

Granularity growth of laser speckle and its application to surface inspection

A process of granularity growth in partially developed speckle patterns produced in the near field of wavy object surfaces illuminated using a laser has been experimentally studied by investigating the probability density function and average contrast of their intensity variations. These parameters have been measured as a function of the distance from the object surface to the detector for four typical sample objects having different surface qualities. It has been found that the variation in average speckle contrast with receiving distance is strongly dependent on the surface quality of the objects. The saturated value of the speckle contrast, found from the graph of its dependence on receiving distance, is also related to the maximum height of irregularities in the surface.     

Imaging optically scattering objects with ultrasound-modulated optical tomography

We show the feasibility of imaging objects having different optical scattering coefficients relative to the surrounding scattering medium using ultrasound-modulated optical tomography (UOT). While the spatial resolution depends on ultrasound parameters, the image contrast depends on the difference in scattering coefficient between the object and the surrounding medium. Experimental measurements obtained with a CCD-based speckle contrast detection scheme are in agreement with Monte Carlo simulations and analytical calculations. This study complements previous UOT experiments that demonstrated optical absorption contrast.     

Using photoelectron emission microscopy with hard-X-rays

We present several successful test cases of using photoelectron emission microscopy (PEEM) for photon energy up to 25 keV. First, the full extended X-ray absorption fine structure analysis was implemented in areas as small as 100 μm² for transition-metal K edge absorption spectra and, therefore, demonstrated the feasibility of combining structural and chemical analysis with hard-X-ray absorption spectroscopy with high lateral resolution. We also show that PEEM can be used in a transmission (radiography) mode as an imaging detector for hard-X-ray. This approach again leads to the unprecedented 0.3 μm lateral resolution, particularly critical for the use of coherence-based phase contrast techniques in real time X-ray radiology.     

Statistical properties of polarization image and despeckling method by multiresolution block-matching 3D filter

The theoretical and experimental investigations on the polarization imagery system of speckle statistical characteristics and speckle removing method are researched. A method to obtain two images encoded by polarization degree with a single measurement process is proposed. A theoretical model for polarization imagery system on Müller matrix is proposed. According to modern charge coupled device (CCD) imaging characteristics, speckles are divided into two kinds, namely small speckle and big speckle. Based on this model, a speckle reduction algorithm based on a dual-tree complex wavelet transform (DTCWT) and blockmatching 3D filter (BM3D) is proposed (DTBM3D). Original laser image data transformed by logarithmic compression is decomposed by DTCWT into approximation and detail subbands. Bilateral filtering is applied to the approximation subbands, and a suited BM3D filter is applied to the detail subbands. The despeckling results show that contrast improvement index and edge preserve index outperform those of traditional methods. The researches have important reference value in research of speckle noise level and removing speckle noise.     

Potential and restriction of high resolution,high energy photoemission in 400–8,000 eV for studying strongly correlated electron systems

InSe and InSe:Er single crystals were grown by using the Bridgman–Stockbarger method. The absorption measurements were carried out for voltage U=0 and U=30 V states of InSe and InSe:Er samples in the temperature range of 10–320 K with a step of 10 K. The absorption edge shifted towards longer wavelengths and the intensity of the absorption spectra decreased under a 5.90 kV/cm electric field. The same binding energy values for InSe and InSe:Er were calculated as 22.2 and 14.2 meV at U=0 and U=30 V, respectively. The steepness parameters and Urbach energies for InSe and InSe:Er samples increased with increasing sample temperature in the range of 10–320 K. An applied electric field caused a shift and a decrease of the intensity of the absorption spectra and an increase in the Urbach energy and steepness parameters. The shift of the absorption edge can be explained on the basis of the Franz–Keldysh effect or thermal heating of the sample under the electric field. PACS 71.20.Nr     

Improvement of estimation parameters in bio-speckle blood flow imaging

Two novel estimation parameters are proposed for bio-speckle blood flow imaging in skin tissue with reducing effects of a speckle contrast and random noises. Estimation parameters are introduced to reduce the effect of the speckle contrast on the sensitivity of the blood flow sensing and to eliminate an offset component due to random noises superimposed on the speckle images. Experiments were conducted for a sample model using ground-glass plates, human vein and finger to confirm the feasibility of the proposed parameters.     

Calorimetric absorption spectroscopy of J-aggregate dye monolayers below 0.1 Kelvin

We describe an extremely sensitive method to investigate nonradiative processes following optical excitation. In a low-temperature calorimeter, the sample is irradiated with monochromatic light. The absorbed energy which is converted into phonons leads to a measurable increase of the sample temperature. The lowest detectable dissipated energy is 2·10^–12J at a working temperature of 0.03 K. We demonstrate our method with a calorimetric absorption spectrum of J-aggregate monolayers of 1-methyl-1-octadecyl-2,2-cyanine. From this spectrum the emission quantum efficiency is obtained as a function of excitation wavelength. A relative minimum is found at the long wavelength edge of the absorption band at 582.5 nm.SFB 126     

Elemental x-ray imaging using Zernike phase contras

We develop an element-specific x-ray microscopy method by using Zernike phase contrast imaging near absorption edges, where a real part of refractive index changes abruptly. In this method two phase contrast images are subtracted to obtain the target element: one is at the absorption edge of the target element and the other is near the absorption edge. The x-ray exposure required by this method is expected to be significantly lower than that of conventional absorption-based x-ray elemental imaging methods. Numerical calculations confirm the advantages of this highly efficient imaging method.     

Elemental x-ray imaging using Zernike phase contrast

We develop an element-specific x-ray microscopy method by using Zernike phase contrast imaging near absorption edges, where a real part of refractive index changes abruptly. In this method two phase contrast images are subtracted to obtain the target element: one is at the absorption edge of the target element and the other is near the absorption edge. The x-ray exposure required by this method is expected to be significantly lower than that of conventional absorption-based x-ray elemental imaging methods. Numerical calculations confirm the advantages of this highly efficient imaging method.     

Use of diffuse reflections in tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy: implications of laser speckle for gas absorption measurements

The use of diffusely scattering materials as a means of eliminating interference fringes has been investigated. Their use introduces laser speckle that can contribute a random, rather than periodic, uncertainty to gas measurements. We have established a method for quantifying the uncertainty due to speckle and investigated ways of reducing it. We characterised the speckle at 823 nm allowing the use of low-cost CCD cameras. We have tested the principle of the model by making gas absorption measurements on the 1650-nm methane absorption line using wavelength-modulation spectroscopy, for which preliminary results are presented. PACS 42.62.Fi; 42.25.Hz; 42.30.Ms     

Verification of speckle contrast measurement interrelation with observation distance

The speckle contrasts of two types of laser projectors were measured at various observation distances and observation lens pinhole diameters using a quantitative measurement technique. We found that the speckle contrast as a function of the observation numerical aperture varies with the projection architecture. In a full-frame projector, it is proportional to the numerical aperture, but it is proportional to its square root in a raster-scanned projector. The difference in speckle contrast as a function of the numerical aperture was analyzed based on Goodman’s speckle theory. The obtained results were found to be very useful and applicable for speckle evaluation and display qualifications in an arbitrary observer’s position.     

Understanding the exposure-time effect on speckle contrast measurements for laser displays

To evaluate the influence of exposure time on speckle noise for laser displays, speckle contrast measurement method was developed observable at a human eye response time using a high-sensitivity camera which has a signal multiplying function. The nonlinearity of camera light sensitivity was calibrated to measure accurate speckle contrasts, and the measuring lower limit noise of speckle contrast was improved by applying spatial-frequency low pass filter to the captured images. Three commercially available laser displays were measured over a wide range of exposure times from tens of milliseconds to several seconds without adjusting the brightness of laser displays. The speckle contrast of raster-scanned mobile projector without any speckle-reduction device was nearly constant over various exposure times. On the contrary to this, in full-frame projection type laser displays equipped with a temporally-averaging speckle-reduction device, some of their speckle contrasts close to the lower limits noise were slightly increased at the shorter exposure time due to the noise. As a result, the exposure-time effect of speckle contrast could not be observed in our measurements, although it is more reasonable to think that the speckle contrasts of laser displays, which are equipped with the temporally-averaging speckle-reduction device, are dependent on the exposure time. This discrepancy may be attributed to the underestimation of temporal averaging factor. We expected that this method is useful for evaluating various laser displays and clarify the relationship between the speckle noise and the exposure time for a further verification of speckle reduction.     

Speckle from a rough surface when the illuminated region contains few correlation areas: The effect of changing the surface height variance

We report speckle contrast measurements taken at the centre of the far-field diffraction pattern of weak, medium and strong diffusers illuminated by a focused laser beam. We study the evolution of curves of speckle contrast as a function of the radius of the laser spot as the variance of surface height is steadily increased for a fixed correlation length. We also present experimental curves of speckle contrast as a function of the distance of the rough surface from the beam focus for three of the diffusers.     

Compressed ghost edge imaging

In this Letter, we propose an advanced framework of ghost edge imaging, named compressed ghost edge imaging(CGEI). In the scheme, a set of structured speckle patterns with pixel shifting illuminate on an unknown object.The output is collected by a bucket detector without any spatial resolution. By using a compressed sensing algorithm, we obtain horizontal and vertical edge information of the unknown object with the bucket detector detection results and the known structured speckle patterns. The edge is finally constructed via twodimensional edge information. The experimental and numerical simulations results show that the proposed scheme has a higher quality and reduces the number of measurements, in comparison with the existing edge detection schemes based on ghost imaging.     

Influence of the carrier concentration on the optical absorption edge of n-CuInSe2

The absorption spectra of as-grown and copper-annealed n-CuInSe₂ samples were obtained at room temperature. A shift of the absorption edge to higher energy for the annealed sample as compared to its value in the as-grown sample, is observed in the measurements. This behaviour can be explained as due to the fact that n-CuInSe₂ becomes degenerate at relatively low electron concentration because of its small electron effective mass.