Simulating Ion Microtomography Data for Improving Reconstruction Quality

Ion Microtomography (IMT) provides quantitative, fine resolution density imaging of samples for materials characterization. Reconstructed tomographic images are obtained by application of a filtered backprojection algorithm to the collected data. The attainable resolution and data acquisition rate are affected by several parameters. These include the number of ions measured per spot, using either the mean or median residual energy, utilizing Bragg additivity, changing the number of rays or the number of projections and oversampling the data. A tomography simulation computer program is described and used to study the contributions from these effects on the numerical reconstruction of an array of silicon pillars

Technical developments for computed tomography on the CENBG nanobeam line

The use of ion microbeams as probes for computedtomography has proven to be a powerful tool for the three-dimensional characterization of specimens a few tens of micrometers in size. Compared to other types of probes, the main advantage is that quantitative information about mass density and composition can be obtained directly, using specific reconstruction codes. At the Centre d’Etudes Nucléaires de Bordeaux Gradignan (CENBG), this technique was initially developed for applications in cellular biology. However, the observation of the cell ultrastructure requires a sub-micron resolution. The construction of the nanobeamline at the Applications Interdisciplinaires des Faisceaux d’Ions en Region Aquitaine (AIFIRA) irradiation facility has opened new perspectives for such applications. The implementation of computedtomography on the nanobeamline of CENBG has required a careful design of the analysis chamber, especially microscopes for precise sample visualization, and detectors for scanning transmission ion microscopy (STIM) and for particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE). The sample can be precisely positioned in the three directions X, Y, Z and a stepper motor coupled to a goniometer ensures the rotational motion. First images of 3D tomography were obtained on a reference sample containing microspheres of certified diameter, showing the good stability of the beam and the sample stage, and the precision of the motion

Preprocessing of ion microtomography data for improved reconstruction quality

In Ion Microtomography (IMT), material densities are determined from the energy lost by ions as they pass through a specimen. For fine-scale measurements with micron-size beams, mechanical stability and precision of motion can impact the quality of the reconstruction. We describe several preprocessing procedures used to minimize imperfect specimen manipulation, including adjustment of the center of mass motion in sinograms and correction for vertical translations. In addition, the amount of noise in the reconstruction is reduced by utilizing median (as opposed to mean) ion energy loss values for density determinations. Furthermore, particular portions of the sampled image can be enhanced with minimal degradation of spatial resolution by a judicial choice of spatial filter in the reconstruction algorithm. The benefits and limitations of these preprocessing techniques are discussed

ALT-I Pump Limiter Experiments

Results from the ALT-I pump limiter experiments in TEXTOR are presented. ALT-I has demonstrated control of the plasma density in a high recycling tokamak by pumping up to 15% of the core efflux. The closed pump limiter designs with restricted entrance geometries to reduce the backflow of neutral gas to the plasma remove over 50% of the ion flux incident on the collection slot. Up to 80% of the entrance ion flux is removed when the edge electron temperature is less than 10 eV and plasma-neutral gas interactions are minimized inside the limiter. Results from a 3-D Monte Carlo neutral gas transport code agree closely with these experimental results. The compound curvature of the head is found to distribute the heat over the surface as predicted in the original designs. Impurity removal experiments demonstrate that significant helium exhaust can be achieved with a pump limiter. During ohmic heating in TEXTOR, the energy and particle confinement times are proportional to the line averaged core density. With ICRH auxiliary heating, tau/sub E/ follow L-mode scaling independent of particle removal by the pump limiter. Pump limiter operation does not directly modify the SOL plasma density and electron temperature, but controls the core plasma density by changing the global recycling at the boundary. The global particle confinement, the particle flux to the limiter, and the edge electron temperature follow the changes in the core density and auxiliary heating power. 25 refs