Subsurface Optical Microscopy of Coarse Grain Spinels. Phase 1.

摘要

This is an interim report summarizing efforts to investigate the use of bioscience software applications to expand the use of optical microscopy in developing improved methods and procedures to document the subsurface structure of coarse grain transparent ceramic materials in situ. The approach was to evaluate commercial software modules normally used by the life sciences using coarse grain magnesium aluminate (MgAl2O4), and aluminum oxy nitride (AlON). The microscope used is a hybrid system possessing transmitted and reflected light illumination capabilities for both laser and broadband light sources and both confocal and widefield capabilities. The 6 13-mm-thick samples produced some unexpected optical responses while exploring the available contrasting/illuminating techniques of the hybrid system. Some of the limitations experienced using a 32 bit operating system and imaging applications are briefly noted. The less-than-ideal results observed in the video files derived from the Z-stack captures show the needed information was captured, just not reliably nor in a quantifiable format using the available technology.