Search results for "Contrast"
showing 10 items of 1162 documents
Correction of the tip convolution effects in the imaging of nanostructures studied through scanning force microscopy
2014
AFM images are always affected by artifacts arising from tip convolution effects, resulting in a decrease in the lateral resolution of this technique. The magnitude of such effects is described by means of geometrical considerations, thereby providing better understanding of the convolution phenomenon. We demonstrate that for a constant tip radius, the convolution error is increased with the object height, mainly for the narrowest motifs. Certain influence of the object shape is observed between rectangular and elliptical objects with the same height. Such moderate differences are essentially expected among elongated objects; in contrast they are reduced as the object aspect ratio is increa…
Cytotoxicity of Metal and Semiconductor Nanoparticles Indicated by Cellular Micromotility
2009
In the growing field of nanotechnology, there is an urgent need to sensitively determine the toxicity of nanoparticles since many technical and medical applications are based on controlled exposure to particles, that is, as contrast agents or for drug delivery. Before the in vivo implementation, in vitro cell experiments are required to achieve a detailed knowledge of toxicity and biodegradation as a function of the nanoparticles' physical and chemical properties. In this study, we show that the micromotility of animal cells as monitored by electrical cell-substrate impedance analysis (ECIS) is highly suitable to quantify in vitro cytotoxicity of semiconductor quantum dots and gold nanorods…
Reduction of the spherical aberration effect in high-numerical-aperture optical scanning instruments.
2006
In modern high-numerical-aperture (NA) optical scanning instruments, such as scanning microscopes, optical data storage systems, or laser trapping technology, the beam emerging from the high-NA objective focuses deeply through an interface between two media of different refractive index. Such a refractive index mismatch introduces an important amount of spherical aberration, which increases dynamically when scanning at increasing depths. This effect strongly degrades the instrument performance. Although in the past few years many different techniques have been reported to reduce the spherical aberration effect, no optimum solution has been found. Here we concentrate on a technique whose mai…
Controlling phase formation in solids: rational synthesis of phase separated Co@Fe2O3 heteroparticles and CoFe2O4 nanoparticles
2011
A wet chemical approach from organometallic reactants allowed the targeted synthesis of Co@Fe(2)O(3) heterodimer and CoFe(2)O(4) ferrite nanoparticles. They display magnetic properties that are useful for magnetic MRI detection.
Near-field scanning optical microscopy to study nanometric structural details of LiNbO3 Zn-diffused channel waveguides
2008
A near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) is used to perform structural and optical characterization of the surface layer after Zn diffusion in a channel waveguide fabricated on lithium niobate. A theoretical approach has been developed in order to extract refractive index contrast from NSOM optical transmission measurements (illumination configuration). As a result, different solid phases present on the sample surface can be identified, such as ZnO and ZnNb2O6. They appear like submicrometric crystallites aligned along the domain wall direction, whose origin can be ascribed to some strain relaxation mechanism during the annealing process after Zn diffusion. Jose.Canet-Ferrer@uv.es
High resolution X-ray tomography – three-dimensional characterisation of cell–scaffold constructs for cartilage tissue engineering
2014
AbstractSynchrotron radiation based microcomputed tomography (SR-μCT) has become a valuable tool for the structural analysis of different types of biomaterials. This methodology allows the non-destructive investigation of specimens in their three-dimensional context. In the present paper, articular cartilage is taken as an exemplary tissue to demonstrate the suitability of the SR-μCT method for the investigation of biomaterials for different tissue engineering approaches. Thus, a biodegradable scaffold for cartilage tissue engineering in different modifications was analysed. Using enhanced phase contrast imaging, it was possible to demonstrate single cells without further metal staining. Th…
Performance data of optically stimulable irradiated materials (doped alkali halides) oriented for imaging and dosimetry purposes
1997
Performance characteristics of a doped alkali halide (KBr:In)-based imaging plate (IP) and dosemeter (D) both the devices utilizing optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and suitable for UV-light and x-ray energy recording are described. By exploiting (silicon) photodiode array as a photodetector, the detective quantum efficiency of 0.1 for IP (KBr:In) can be achieved. A very wide dynamic range, 1010:1 for UV (6.35 eV) and 1011:1 for x-ray (44 kV tube voltage) OSL recording at the spatial resolution of 1 mm2, is favorable for digital imaging and considerably improves image quality. These possibilities are illustrated by presenting available information capacities, energy consumption per b…
Optical Contrast and Raman Spectroscopy Techniques Applied to Few-Layer 2D Hexagonal Boron Nitride
2019
The successful integration of few-layer thick hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) into devices based on two-dimensional materials requires fast and non-destructive techniques to quantify their thickness. Optical contrast methods and Raman spectroscopy have been widely used to estimate the thickness of two-dimensional semiconductors and semi-metals. However, they have so far not been applied to two-dimensional insulators. In this work, we demonstrate the ability of optical contrast techniques to estimate the thickness of few-layer hBN on SiO2/Si substrates, which was also measured by atomic force microscopy. Optical contrast of hBN on SiO2/Si substrates exhibits a linear trend with the number of h…
Near-IR- and UV-femtosecond laser waveguide inscription in silica glasses
2019
The influence of laser parameters on silica based waveguide inscription is investigated by using femtosecond laser pulses at 1030 nm (near-IR) and at 343 nm (UV). Negative phase contrast microscopy technique is used to measure the refractive index contrast for different photo-inscribed waveguides and shows the effects of both laser wavelength and scanning speed. In particular, UV photons have a higher efficiency in the waveguide production process as also confirmed by the lower optical losses at 1550 nm in these waveguides. These measurements are combined with micro-Raman and photoluminescence techniques, highlighting that laser exposure induces both structural modification of the silica an…
Scattering perspectives on nanostructural inhomogeneity in polymer network gels
2017
Abstract Scattering methods based on spatial and temporal contrast fluctuations in polymer-network gels, which originate from polymer-segmental density fluctuations, reveal rich insight into different types and levels of nanostructural inhomogeneity in these soft materials. Complementary contrasting as provided by light, neutron, and X-ray scattering allows such information to be obtained on nano- to micrometer length scales. On top of that, complementary use of static and dynamic scattering methods allows the interplay and effect of these inhomogeneities to be unraveled. This article interrelates a multitude of studies on the application of scattering techniques for analytical assessment o…