Full-field microsurface profilometry using image correlation without vertical scanning.

A full-field microprofilometry involving innovative image correlation was developed for profile measurement without vertical scanning. High-speed optical inspection has become critical for confirming precise dimensions in semiconductor fabrication such as microbumping in 3D stacked ICs and precision manufacturing. A digital micromirror device (DMD) is designed to serve as a point-light-source array in a quasiconfocal optical configuration and perform lateral scanning to minimize signal crosstalk between neighboring testing points. More importantly, multiple diffractive images are detected and measured with a prebuilt depth-correlated database to extract the height information of a tested surface. A 100-nm repeatability can be realized in the absence of a detector pinhole and without vertical scanning, thus achieving high-speed submicrometer-scale surface profilometry.

A Novel Surface Descriptor for Automated 3-D Object Recognition and Localization.

This paper presents a novel approach to the automated recognition and localization of 3-D objects. The proposed approach uses 3-D object segmentation to segment randomly stacked objects in an unstructured point cloud. Each segmented object is then represented by a regional area-based descriptor, which measures the distribution of surface area in the oriented bounding box (OBB) of the segmented object. By comparing the estimated descriptor with the template descriptors stored in the database, the object can be recognized. With this approach, the detected object can be matched with the model using the iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm to detect its 3-D location and orientation. Experiments were performed to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the approach. With the measured point clouds having a spatial resolution of 1.05 mm, the proposed method can achieve both a mean deviation and standard deviation below half of the spatial resolution.

Absolute Depth Measurement Using Multiphase Normalized Cross-Correlation for Precise Optical Profilometry.

In a multifrequency phase-shifting (MFPS) algorithm, the temporal phase unwrapping algorithm can extend the unambiguous phase range by transforming the measurement range from a short fringe pitch into an extended synthetic pitch of two different frequencies. However, this undesirably amplifies the uncertainty of measurement, with each single-frequency phase map retaining its measurement uncertainty, which is carried over to the final unwrapped phase maps in fringe-order calculations. This article analyzes possible causes and proposes a new absolute depth measurement algorithm to minimize the propagation of measurement uncertainty. Developed from normalized cross-correlation (NCC), the proposed algorithm can minimize wrong fringe-order calculations in the MFPS algorithm. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed measurement method could effectively calibrate the wrong fringe order. Moreover, some extremely low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regions of a captured image could be correctly reconstructed (for surface profiles). The present findings confirmed measurement precision at one standard deviation below 5.4 µm, with an absolute distance measurement of 16 mm. The measurement accuracy of the absolute depth could be significantly improved from an unacceptable level of measured errors down to 0.5% of the overall measuring range. Additionally, the proposed algorithm was capable of extracting the absolute phase map in other optical measurement applications, such as distance measurements using interferometry.

Dose-related ethanol intake, Cx43 and Nav1.5 remodeling: Exploring insights of altered ventricular conduction and QRS fragmentation in excessive alcohol users.

BACKGROUND: Chronic, excessive ethanol intake has been linked with various electrical instabilities, conduction disturbances, and even sudden cardiac death, but the underlying cause for the latter is insufficiently delineated. METHODS: We studied surface electrocardiography (ECG) in a community-dwelling cohort with moderate-to-heavy daily alcohol intake (grouped as >90g/day, ≤90g/day, and nonintake). RESULTS: Compared with nonintake, heavier alcohol users showed markedly widened QRS duration and higher prevalence of QRS fragmentation (64.3%, 50.9%, and 33.7%, respectively, χ2 12.0, both p<0.05) on surface ECG across the 3 groups. These findings were successfully recapitulated in 14-week-old C57BL/6 mice that were chronically given a 4% or 6% alcohol diet and showed dose-related slower action potential upstroke, reduced resting membrane potential, and disorganized or decreased intraventricular conduction (all p<0.05). Immunodetection further revealed increased ventricular collagen I depots with Cx43 downregulation and remodeling, together with clustered and diminished membrane Nav1.5 distribution. Administration of Cx43 blocker (heptanol) and Nav1.5 inhibitor (tetrodotoxin) in the mice each attenuated the suppression ventricular conduction compared with nonintake mice (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Chronic excessive alcohol ingestion is associated with dose-related phenotypic intraventricular conduction disturbances and QRS fragmentation that can be recapitulated in mice. The mechanisms may involve suppressed gap junction and sodium channel functions, together with enhanced cardiac fibrosis that may contribute to arrhythmogenesis.

Shearing interference microscope for step-height measurements.

A shearing interference microscope using a Savart prism as the shear plate is proposed for inspecting step-heights. Where the light beam propagates through the Savart prism and microscopic system to illuminate the sample, it then turns back to re-pass through the Savart prism and microscopic system to generate a shearing interference pattern on the camera. Two measurement modes, phase-shifting and phase-scanning, can be utilized to determine the depths of the step-heights on the sample. The first mode, which employs a narrowband source, is based on the five-step phase-shifting algorithm and has a measurement range of a quarter-wavelength. The second mode, which adopts a broadband source, is based on peak-intensity identification technology and has a measurement range up to a few micrometres. This paper is to introduce the configuration and measurement theory of this microscope, perform a setup used to implement it, and present the experimental results from the uses of the setup. The results not only verify the validity but also confirm the high measurement repeatability of the proposed microscope.

Precise optical surface profilometry using innovative chromatic differential confocal microscopy.

A broadband differential confocal method that exploits novel double-slit chromatic confocal microscopy was developed for one-shot microscopic 3D surface measurement. In situ automated optical inspection to generate microscopic surface profiles has become extremely important for ensuring strict geometric compliance in precision manufacturing. An innovative optical configuration was developed to generate a pair of orthogonally polarized incident light beams, and a pair of the conjugate light beams was detected using two slits of different widths at the corresponding conjugate imaging locations of the incident beams. A sub-micrometer depth measuring repeatability can be achieved for the one-shot reconstruction of 3D surface profiles.

Orthogonal polarization Mirau interferometer using reflective-type waveplate.

This work proposes an orthogonal polarization Mirau interferometry using a reflective-type waveplate to generate different polarization orientations for broadband white light interferometry. The reflective-type half-waveplate is employed as the reference arm of the Mirau interferometer to convert polarization and it generates a reference light with an orientation orthogonal to the object light. An advantage of the proposed interferometer is its ability to control the ratio of light intensity between the object and reference arms to maximize the interferometric fringe contrast. Better, more accurate calibration of standard step height has been achieved by the developed interferometer, which also can measure solder bumps that traditional Mirau interferometers usually cannot measure.

Polarization phase-shifting Newton interferometer for plane optical surface measurements.

This Letter introduces a polarization phase-shifting Newton interferometer that can be utilized for plane optical surface measurements, a setup constructed to realize the interferometer, and the experimental results from the use of the setup. The results confirm not only the validity but also the feasibility of the interferometer.

An on-line measurement and control system for submerged arc spray synthesis of TiO2 nanoparticles.

This article presents the development of an on-line measurement and control system for process characterization and optimization of the nanoparticle manufacturing process, called the submerged arc-spray nanoparticle synthesis system (SANSS). To achieve optimized control of particle uniformity, this research investigates the feasibility of employing optical fiber probe and the dynamic light scattering (DLS) technique to monitor and control particle sizes. According to the theory of DLS, an on-line nanoparticle sampling and measurement system was developed and integrated with the SANSS as an important step to verify the measurement performance of the proposed method. To examine the measurement accuracy of the developed system, calibrated polystyrene latex particles with known accurate sizes were employed to verify the particle sizing accuracy of the proposed system. The data conformity between the measurement results of TiO, nanoparticles obtained by various methods, including TEM, a calibrated commercial particle sizing system and the on-line measurement system, has indicated that the developed method was feasible and effective.

Submerged arc spray synthesis of TiO2 nanoparticles with desired form sphericity using process characterization and optimization.

This article presents a study on process characterization and optimization of the metal nanoparticle fabrication process known as the submerged arc spray nanoparticle synthesis system (SANSS) for obtaining desired geometric sphericity of nanoparticles. The geometric shape characteristics of nanoparticles pose significant impact on innovative product and process design. The sphericity and surface roughness of prepared TiO2 nanoparticles can vary widely and are influenced by the process parameters being employed in the SANSS. To improve this, an in-situ nanofluid sampling and measurement approach was developed to analyze the particle shape characteristics and characterize the nanoparticle synthesis process. The particle shape contours obtained from FE-SEM and TEM were employed to quantify the TiO2 nanoparticle sphericity and analyze the effect of process parameters on particle roundness. The optimized process parameters were identified using the Taguchi method. Our results proved that the average sphericity of TiO2 particles prepared using the optimized process parameters was effectively improved up to three folds.