Search Results
Multimodal nonlinear imaging of atherosclerotic plaques differentiation of triglyceride and cholesterol deposits
2014, Matthäus, C., Cicchi, R., Meyer, T., Lattermann, A., Schmitt, M., Romeike, B.F.M., Krafft, C., Dietzek, B., Brehm, B.R., Pavone, F.S., Popp, J.
Cardiovascular diseases in general and atherothrombosis as the most common of its individual disease entities is the leading cause of death in the developed countries. Therefore, visualization and characterization of inner arterial plaque composition is of vital diagnostic interest, especially for the early recognition of vulnerable plaques. Established clinical techniques provide valuable morphological information but cannot deliver information about the chemical composition of individual plaques. Therefore, spectroscopic imaging techniques have recently drawn considerable attention. Based on the spectroscopic properties of the individual plaque components, as for instance different types of lipids, the composition of atherosclerotic plaques can be analyzed qualitatively as well as quantitatively. Here, we compare the feasibility of multimodal nonlinear imaging combining two-photon fluorescence (TPF), coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) and second-harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy to contrast composition and morphology of lipid deposits against the surrounding matrix of connective tissue with diffraction limited spatial resolution. In this contribution, the spatial distribution of major constituents of the arterial wall and atherosclerotic plaques like elastin, collagen, triglycerides and cholesterol can be simultaneously visualized by a combination of nonlinear imaging methods, providing a powerful label-free complement to standard histopathological methods with great potential for in vivo application.
Nesting-driven multipolar order in CeB6 from photoemission tomography
2016, Koitzsch, A., Heming, N., Knupfer, M., Büchner, B., Portnichenko, P.Y., Dukhnenko, A.V., Shitsevalova, N.Y., Filipov, V.B., Lev, L.L.
Some heavy fermion materials show so-called hidden-order phases which are invisible to many characterization techniques and whose microscopic origin remained controversial for decades. Among such hidden-order compounds, CeB6 is of model character due to its simple electronic configuration and crystal structure. Apart from more conventional antiferromagnetism, it shows an elusive phase at low temperatures, which is commonly associated with multipolar order. Here we show that this phase roots in a Fermi surface instability. This conclusion is based on a full 3D tomographic sampling of the electronic structure by angle-resolved photoemission and comparison with inelastic neutron scattering data. The hidden order is mediated by itinerant electrons. Our measurements will serve as a paradigm for the investigation of hidden-order phases in f-electron systems, but also generally for situations where the itinerant electrons drive orbital or spin order.
Atom size electron vortex beams with selectable orbital angular momentum
2017, Pohl, Darius, Schneider, Sebastian, Zeiger, Paul, Rusz, Ján, Tiemeijer, Peter, Lazar, Sorin, Nielsch, Kornelius, Rellinghaus, Bernd
The decreasing size of modern functional magnetic materials and devices cause a steadily increasing demand for high resolution quantitative magnetic characterization. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) based measurements of the electron energy-loss magnetic chiral dichroism (EMCD) may serve as the needed experimental tool. To this end, we present a reliable and robust electron-optical setup that generates and controls user-selectable single state electron vortex beams with defined orbital angular momenta. Our set-up is based on a standard high-resolution scanning TEM with probe aberration corrector, to which we added a vortex generating fork aperture and a miniaturized aperture for vortex selection. We demonstrate that atom size probes can be formed from these electron vortices and that they can be used for atomic resolution structural and spectroscopic imaging – both of which are prerequisites for future atomic EMCD investigations.
Preparation of clay mineral samples for high resolution x-ray imaging
2013, Abbati, G., Seim, C., Legall, H., Stiel, H., Thomas, N., Wilhein, T.
In the development of optimum ceramic materials for plastic forming, it is of fundamental importance to gain insight into the compositions of the clay minerals. Whereas spectroscopic methods are adequate for determining the elemental composition of a given sample, a knowledge of the spatial composition, together with the shape and size of the particles leads to further, valuable insight. This requires an imaging technique such as high resolution X-ray microscopy. In addition, fluorescence spectroscopy provides a viable element mapping technique. Since the fine particle fraction of the materials has a major effect on physical properties like plasticity, the analysis is focused mainly on the smallest particles. To separate these from the bigger agglomerates, the raw material has to pass through several procedures like centrifugation and filtering. After that, one has to deposit a layer of appropriate thickness on to a suitable substrate. These preparative techniques are described here, starting from the clay mineral raw materials and proceeding through to samples that are ready to analyze. First results using high resolution x-ray imaging are shown.
Simultaneous magnetic field and field gradient mapping of hexagonal MnNiGa by quantitative magnetic force microscopy
2023, Freitag, Norbert H., Reiche, Christopher F., Neu, Volker, Devi, Parul, Burkhardt, Ulrich, Felser, Claudia, Wolf, Daniel, Lubk, Axel, Büchner, Bernd, Mühl, Thomas
Magnetic force microscopy (MFM) is a scanning microscopy technique that is commonly employed to probe the sample’s magnetostatic stray fields via their interaction with a magnetic probe tip. In this work, a quantitative, single-pass MFM technique is presented that maps one magnetic stray-field component and its spatial derivative at the same time. This technique uses a special cantilever design and a special high-aspect-ratio magnetic interaction tip that approximates a monopole-like moment. Experimental details, such as the control scheme, the sensor design, which enables simultaneous force and force gradient measurements, as well as the potential and limits of the monopole description of the tip moment are thoroughly discussed. To demonstrate the merit of this technique for studying complex magnetic samples it is applied to the examination of polycrystalline MnNiGa bulk samples. In these experiments, the focus lies on mapping and analyzing the stray-field distribution of individual bubble-like magnetization patterns in a centrosymmetric [001] MnNiGa phase. The experimental data is compared to calculated and simulated stray-field distributions of 3D magnetization textures, and, furthermore, bubble dimensions including diameters are evaluated. The results indicate that the magnetic bubbles have a significant spatial extent in depth and a buried bubble top base.
Imaging of carrier-envelope phase effects in above-threshold ionization with intense few-cycle laser fields
2008, Kling, M.F., Rauschenberger, J., Verhoef, A.J., Hasović, E., Uphues, T., Milošević, D.B., Muller, H.G., Vrakking, M.J.J.
Sub-femtosecond control of the electron emission in above-threshold ionization of the rare gases Ar, Xe and Kr in intense few-cycle laser fields is reported with full angular resolution. Experimental data that were obtained with the velocity-map imaging technique are compared to simulations using the strong-field approximation (SFA) and full time-dependent Schrödinger equation (TDSE) calculations. We find a pronounced asymmetry in both the energy and angular distributions of the electron emission that critically depends on the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of the laser field. The potential use of imaging techniques as a tool for single-shot detection of the CEP is discussed. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.
Coherent correlation imaging for resolving fluctuating states of matter
2023, Klose, Christopher, Büttner, Felix, Hu, Wen, Mazzoli, Claudio, Litzius, Kai, Battistelli, Riccardo, Lemesh, Ivan, Bartell, Jason M., Huang, Mantao, Günther, Christian M., Schneider, Michael, Barbour, Andi, Wilkins, Stuart B., Beach, Geoffrey S. D., Eisebitt, Stefan, Pfau, Bastian
Fluctuations and stochastic transitions are ubiquitous in nanometre-scale systems, especially in the presence of disorder. However, their direct observation has so far been impeded by a seemingly fundamental, signal-limited compromise between spatial and temporal resolution. Here we develop coherent correlation imaging (CCI) to overcome this dilemma. Our method begins by classifying recorded camera frames in Fourier space. Contrast and spatial resolution emerge by averaging selectively over same-state frames. Temporal resolution down to the acquisition time of a single frame arises independently from an exceptionally low misclassification rate, which we achieve by combining a correlation-based similarity metric1,2 with a modified, iterative hierarchical clustering algorithm3,4. We apply CCI to study previously inaccessible magnetic fluctuations in a highly degenerate magnetic stripe domain state with nanometre-scale resolution. We uncover an intricate network of transitions between more than 30 discrete states. Our spatiotemporal data enable us to reconstruct the pinning energy landscape and to thereby explain the dynamics observed on a microscopic level. CCI massively expands the potential of emerging high-coherence X-ray sources and paves the way for addressing large fundamental questions such as the contribution of pinning5–8 and topology9–12 in phase transitions and the role of spin and charge order fluctuations in high-temperature superconductivity13,14.