Colour contour surface scanning using multiple sheet-of-light cameras

Sheet-of-light is a standard method for 3D scanning of a variety of surfaces. While sheet-of-light is a fast and precise means of measurement of an object's surface geometry, the scans produced by such a system lack an important surface property, namely the surface color

Visual computing at the IIS: From life sciences to industrial applications

Since its foundation over 25 years ago, the Fraunhofer IIS has been involved in the applied research within the field of "Visual Computing". This field of research incorporates all areas of image acquisition: including different kinds of imaging physics, various types of image sensors; image formation: describing the manipulation of the acquired image data between the sensor and the output and 3-D-image reconstruction; image coding and transportation: lossy and lossless coding, wire-based and wireless transmission; image processing: image-to-image operations such as image enhancement, panoramic image stitching, or video tracking; image analysis: pattern recognition, object detection, classification; and image synthesis: including computer graphics, image augmentation and modeling

The Norwegian Occupational Balance Questionnaire (OBQ11-N) – Development and pilot study

Background: The concept occupational balance has been linked with health and well-being, and it is therefore viewed as an important concept for occupational therapy practice, theory and research. To operationalize and measure occupational balance, the Occupational Balance Questionnaire (OBQ) was developed in Sweden. To date, no Norwegian translations of the OBQ exists. Aim: To describe the process of developing a Norwegian version of the 11-items Occupational Balance Questionnaire (OBQ11-N) and to evaluate its feasibility and face validity. Methods: The development process followed a predetermined series of steps, including forward and back translation and cognitive interviews with a pilot sample. Results: The pilot study sample (n = 8) varied with respect to age, gender and education level. There was high level of agreement between the participants with regard to their understanding of the content of the items. Three of the items were slightly modified in terms of words and phrasing. Conclusion: The OBQ11-N was developed according to established translation guidelines and appears to be feasible and have good face validity. Significance: The OBQ11-N may prove useful for assessing occupational balance and associated factors in Norwegian population groups. However, more research is needed to establish the Norwegian version of the questionnaire as psychometrically valid

Magnetic properties of embedded ferromagnetic contacts to silicon for spin injection

We investigate the magnetic properties of arrays of sputter-deposited, Co70Fe30/Ni80Fe20 and Co40Fe40B20 contacts to silicon, embedded into 42 nm thick SiO2 dielectric. The contacts have rectangular shapes with blunt edges, sub-micrometre width and different aspect ratios. They are deposited either directly on silicon, forming Schottky junctions or on top of an MgO tunnel barriers with varying thickness. The MgO and CoFeB electrode are amorphous while the CoFe/NiFe bilayer is polycrystalline. The magnetization switching characteristics are studied by means of the magneto-optical Kerr effect and magnetic force microscopy. The switching field and its distribution within the array are found to depend on the thickness of the MgO and the ferromagnet (FM). Switching is mostly determined by the contact's width by means of end domains formed at the blunt edges. An influence of the length for wider contacts is also demonstrated. Despite a small angle magnetization misalignment along the contact, the remanence is high in all cases. The switching characteristics are shown to deteriorate after high temperature annealing, especially for the amorphous CoFeB FM due to the onset of crystallization

Evaluation of Schottky and MgO-based tunnelling diodes with different ferromagnets for spin injection in n-Si

In this work we present the electrical properties of sputter-deposited ferromagnetic (FM) Schottky diodes and MgO-based tunnelling diodes to n-doped (0 0 1) silicon. The effective Schottky barrier height (SBH) has been evaluated as a function of the FM electrode (Co70Fe30, Co40Fe40B20 and Ni80Fe20), the silicon doping density (1015 to 1018 cm-3), the MgO tunnelling barrier thickness (0, 1.5 and 2.5 nm) and post-deposition annealing up to 400 °C. The ideality factors of the Schottky diodes are close to unity, indicating transport by thermionic emission and the absence of an interfacial oxide layer, which is confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. The effective SBH is found to be approximately 0.65 eV, independent of the FM material and decreasing with increasing doping density. The changes induced by high temperature annealing at the current–voltage characteristic of the Schottky diodes depend strongly on the FM electrode. The effective SBH for the tunnelling diodes isas low as 0.3 eV, which suggests a high density of oxide and interface traps. It is again independent of the FM electrode, decreasing with increasing doping density and annealing temperature. The inclusion of MgO leads to higher thermal stability of the tunnelling diodes. The measured contact resistance values are discussed with respect to the conductivity mismatch for spin injection and detection

Characterization of embedded MgO/ferromagnet contacts for spin injection in silicon

In this work we present the structural and electrical characterization of sputter-deposited CoFe(B)/MgO/Si metal-insulator-semiconductor tunneling junctions for injection and detection of spin polarized current in silicon. The multilayers have been deposited in 700 nm deep trenches, patterned in thick SiO2 dielectric, on n- and p-doped wafers. The films inside the trenches are continuous with a correlated and low roughness. The MgO barrier grows amorphous without indication of pinholes. The dc and ac transport properties of the junctions were studied as a function of temperature and frequency. A relatively high interface trap density at the MgO/Si-interface is extracted from admittance spectra measurements. Transport is dominated by majority carriers in the case of n- doped and by minority carriers for the p-doped wafers. This leads to distinct rectification characteristics for the two wafer types, which would significantly influence the spin injection efficiency of the tunneling junctions