Image and EDS Standards

access requirements a valid license with amics online and bruker esprit or bruker m4 software appropriate for your machine bruker esprit for sem also requires esprit api and esprit stage control field of view setup purpose field of view (fov) setup, backscattered electron (bse) correction, and spectrum stadnards (eds) establish a stable reference for repeatable imaging and automated acquisition this workflow is used to define one or more reference fields on a specimen holder that represent stable beam and imaging conditions capture and store bse images and optional histogram outputs for each reference field apply controlled brightness and contrast behavior for consistent bse response between sessions store stage location and imaging conditions together so they can be applied automatically during measurement execution provide a repeatable baseline used for automated bse correction and standards acquisition configured fov standards are used by measurements to reposition the stage, apply sem imaging conditions, and enforce bse stability before acquiring measurement fields note in previous versions of amics "standard" may have reffered to spectrum used in matching in amics 5 1 and newer such spectrum are "refrence spectrum" and "standard" is only used for stadnarization of images and spectra as data collection when to use use fov setup and bse correction in the following situations initial commissioning of a system or after changes that affect bse response establishing a new automated mineralogy workflow requiring consistent bse contrast over time visible bse gray level drift between sessions or between repeated runs under nominally identical conditions automated measurements that must return to the same physical location and imaging response without manual adjustment routine operation after maintenance affecting beam alignment, detector response, or imaging stability user interface overview fov setup is performed through three primary ribbon contexts field of view image spectrum the interface includes the following elements a field of view list that contains the defined fov items a specimen holder view that displays hole locations and highlights the selected hole and fov marker an image view used to capture, display, and save bse images for the selected fov item optional spectrum tools used when eds standards are collected as part of the fov definition fov items are stored as named entries associated with a specimen hole and a stored stage location each entry can store imaging settings and optional eds standard parameters new fov / image standard capture the fov location move the stage to the intended fov reference location start live capture, either on the sem or throughn the amics live view and sem control docid\ ifyfe0yexcjotswon1iv7 use the bse guides docid\ rxep8xe6ndchfwq almp3 to set the optomial bse histogram for the workflow create an fov item make the standard manager tab active open the field of view ribbon select an existing fov item from the list or create a new item if an existing item is similar, duplicate the item and rename it provide a name that makes sense the same fov location can be set for diffrent histograms! use the same set of stadnards for diffrent workflows by saving them as diffrent fov items assign the fov item to a specimen hole assigning a fov to a specimen select the target specimen hole in the holder view it must have a specimen already entered select the fov item confirm the hole association is correct by verifying the highlighted hole and fov marker verify the fov location from the standard manager make the "standard manager" tab active make the field of view tab active select a fov item selct "go now" from the ribbon bse image correction imaging setup for bse standard capture bse standard capture is performed from the image ribbon while an fov item is selected select the image channel select the target fov item set the image channel to primary the primary channel is used for bse standard image capture configure capture and storage configure the image capture storage options enable save to database to store the captured bse image with the fov item enable save to exp folder to store a copy in the experiment folder associated with the active project enable save to data lake to store a copy in a configured data lake location when enabled and available configure optional outputs enable save image to export a raw image file when configured enable save histogram to export a histogram image when configured configure automatic brightness and contrast procedure automatic brightness and contrast behavior is controlled by the image ribbon procedure settings enable set brightness and contrast confirm the automatic brightness and contrast procedure is enabled for standard capture use run test to validate the procedure on the selected fov item prior to recapture when enabled, the system evaluates bse response and applies brightness and contrast behavior according to the configured procedure capture and recapture of the bse standard image capture an initial bse standard image select the target fov item use open live view to confirm that stable imaging conditions are present set beam and imaging conditions to match the intended workflow select acquire new standard to capture the standard image for the selected fov item the captured image is stored according to the configured save options and linked to the selected fov item recapture an existing bse standard image select the fov item use recapture std img to replace the stored standard image for that fov item recapture overwrites the stored standard image for the selected fov item and updates associated histogram outputs when enabled automatic bse correction behavior automatic bse correction uses a comparison between current bse response and a stored reference response the correction routine uses histogram behavior and a drift threshold to determine when correction is required reference response and drift threshold a reference response is derived from the stored standard image a drift threshold is used to determine whether correction is required when the measured response is within tolerance, correction is not applied when the measured response exceeds the threshold, brightness and contrast adjustments are applied when supported correction application when correction is enabled and required the system acquires a bse image at the stored fov location the bse histogram is evaluated against the stored reference brightness and contrast values are adjusted using controller supported operations a stabilization delay is applied after each adjustment the image is re evaluated until the response is within tolerance or the procedure limits are reached eds standards spectrum settings for eds standards at fov locations eds standard acquisition for an fov is configured from the spectrum ribbon enable standard collection mode select the target standard item enable save eds standard select acquisition mode select one of the following modes collect by counts collect by time configure acquisition targets when collect by counts is selected set target counts set plus to define count margin behavior used for completion control when collect by time is selected set aqtime (ms) optional settings enable set exp aqtime when the measurement acquisition time must be updated from the standard definition configure export and storage enable save to exp folder to save a copy with experiment results enable save to standards folder to save a copy into a defined standards folder select export format and set the export folder location measurement automation using fov standards fov standards are applied automatically only when the measurement workflow includes an fov step configure the measurement workflow to use fov standards open the measurement setup for the target measurement enable the workflow option that applies fov positioning and standard conditions before field acquisition select the fov item used as the reference for the measurement enable automatic brightness and contrast behavior for the measurement when bse stability enforcement is required confirm that the measurement uses the same imaging mode, detector selection, and resolution intended for the standard measurement execution behavior when configured, measurement execution applies the following sequence before the first field is acquired drive the stage to the selected fov location apply stored imaging conditions associated with the fov item acquire a bse image at the fov location evaluate bse response against the stored reference and threshold apply correction when required and supported proceed to automated field acquisition fov correction behavior may repeat during measurement when the workflow is configured to re check bse stability at defined intervals inputs and controls field of view controls the field of view ribbon provides controls to create, duplicate, rename, and remove fov items drive the stage to the selected fov item capture stage location into the selected fov item open live image windows for verification apply imaging and hardware settings associated with the selected fov item image controls the image ribbon provides controls to acquire a new standard image recapture the standard image for the selected fov configure automatic brightness and contrast procedure configure saving to database, experiment folder, and data lake export image and histogram outputs when enabled execute run test to validate the configured procedure spectrum controls the spectrum ribbon provides controls to configure eds standard acquisition behavior select count based or time based acquisition define target counts or acquisition time configure export format and destination outputs and results fov and bse setup produces a set of fov items containing name and specimen hole association stored stage position for repeatable navigation linked standard image and optional histogram outputs optional eds standard configuration and exported spectra stored bse standard images in the database when enabled optional saved copies of standard images in the experiment folder and data lake exported standard spectra and associated files when eds standards are enabled a repeatable baseline used by measurement automation for bse stability and positioning operational notes controller dependencies stage motion and application of imaging conditions require an active sem connection eds standard acquisition requires an active eds connection some commands are disabled while acquisition or controller exclusive operations are active stabilization timing a stabilization delay is applied after applying imaging conditions and after brightness and contrast adjustments to ensure stable imaging response before evaluation or capture storage selection save to database controls whether standard images remain available inside investigator for later inspection file based saves provide external copies but do not replace database storage procedure validation run test validates the current automatic brightness and contrast procedure on the selected fov item and is used to confirm behavior before bulk recapture or measurement execution common pitfalls busy controller state capture, recapture, and hardware apply functions are unavailable during active acquisition states stop acquisition tasks before editing or recapturing fov standards unrecorded location if the fov location is not captured after positioning, go to returns to an undefined or incorrect location and the stored standard image will not represent the intended reference field misaligned imaging conditions standards captured under different imaging conditions than the measurement workflow reduce bse stability capture standards using the same detector selection, resolution, working distance, and voltage intended for automated measurements save to database disabled when save to database is disabled, standard images may not be available for later inspection inside investigator even if exported files exist enable database saving for workflows that require repeated standard inspection and correction incorrect correction sensitivity aggressive correction settings increase time and may overreact to minor noise loose correction settings allow drift to persist tune correction sensitivity based on observed bse stability for the configured workflow requires amics 5 2 0 or newer amics 5 2 is currently in beta testing the released version of amics is and can be found with the most recent beta at the software installation docid\ e1faehd1k20uedqhptzlx page manuals for previous versions of the software can be found at the older amics versions docid\ d2biwe sybowhhdww0anz page