Welcome to the BadgerFilm forum

[Aurelien Moy]

BadgerFilm is a user-friendly, free, open-source program implementing documented ϕ(ρz) models and algorithms allowing the quantification of stratified samples by EPMA.
The program can be used to quantify bulk samples using k-ratios obtained by EPMA, as well as its main intended purpose, thin film analysis.
BadgerFilm can also be employed to determine MAC values from relative X-ray intensities, as well as to calculate absolute X-ray intensities for comparison with experimental data and Monte Carlo simulations.

For more detailed information about BadgerFilm capabilities, check out our two open access publications:
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927620024915
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927620024927

BadgerFilm is written in .NET Visual Basic and the source code can be found at this repository link:
https://github.com/Aurelien354/BadgerFilm

Many thanks to John Donovan for hosting this discussion board on the Probe Software User's Forum.

[Probeman]

Hi Aurelien,
Thank-you for making this available.

How does one go about installing the executable? Can you post a link to an installer file for BadgerFilm?

[Aurelien Moy]

There is no installer for BadgerFilm. One just needs to unzip the latest released version (available here: https://github.com/Aurelien354/BadgerFilm/tree/master/BadgerFilm%20Release) and launch BadgerFilm.exe.

For now, BadgerFilm is simple enough to not require an installer, but that is something I will consider for the future versions.

[Probeman]

Thank-you!

Also can you confirm that BadgerFilm can import the STRATAGem input files generated by Probe for EPMA?  And also can BadgerFilm input multiple STRATAGem input files files and output the average and variance for all the imported files?

Finally I am especially interested in how BadgerFilm compares to STRATAGem.  Would you be willing to start a new topic on this board that shows some examples of how they compare and discuss them?

[ansaheric]

Thank you

Is there any means to predict layer density and thickness using BadgerFilm without knowing it beforehand or defining it initially as an input?

[Aurelien Moy]

John: Yes, you can import STRATAGem input files generated by Probe for EPMA. BadgerFilm can import multiple files at once and then average the loaded experimental k-ratios, giving a variance on the input data. This assumes that all the imported files are similar (describing the same sample with the same experimental conditions and measured X-ray lines).
Comparing the perditions of BadgerFilm and STRATAGem to experimental data can be interesting. I will try to gather some materials and start a new topic.

Ansaheric: BadgerFilm can return the area density of the layers (in µg/cm²) but you will need either the density or the thickness, to convert this value to a thickness or a density, respectively. You cannot determine both the density and the thickness with this method.

[Malcolm Roberts]

We learnt about this yesterday and it is already showing how useful it can be particularly as StrataGEM has spat the dummy!! Importantly, Aurelien, how would you like us to cite your work when we get so far as to publish it??
Cheers
Malc.

[Aurelien Moy]

Thank you for being a BadgerFilm user.
You can cite the program using our two main publications:

- Moy, A., & Fournelle, J. (2021). ϕ(ρz) Distributions in Bulk and Thin Film Samples for EPMA. Part 1: A Modified ϕ(ρz) Distribution for Bulk Materials, Including Characteristic and Bremsstrahlung Fluorescence. Microscopy and Microanalysis, 27(2), 266-283. doi:10.1017/S1431927620024915

- Moy, A., & Fournelle, J. (2021). ϕ(ρz) Distributions in Bulk and Thin-Film Samples for EPMA. Part 2: BadgerFilm: A New Thin-Film Analysis Program. Microscopy and Microanalysis, 27(2), 284-296. doi:10.1017/S1431927620024927

Any suggestions to improve the program are welcome. Some bugs such as infinite message box windows appearing when selecting the XPP model have already been corrected and will be implemented in the next version of the program.

[Probeman]

...StrataGEM has spat the dummy!!

Not exactly sure how it did that(!?), but when we upgraded our thin film computer from Windows 95 to Windows 10, we found we had to purchase a new version of STRATAGem because the old STRATAGem would no longer run properly under the new Windows OS.

I'd be interested in seeing a comparison between STRATAGem and BadgerFilm for a number of thin film compositions.  This should be easy to do since they both use the same input files...  someone should start a new topic on this.

[Ben Buse]

BadgerFilm is a user-friendly, free, open-source program implementing documented ϕ(ρz) models and algorithms allowing the quantification of stratified samples by EPMA.
The program can be used to quantify bulk samples using k-ratios obtained by EPMA, as well as its main intended purpose, thin film analysis.
BadgerFilm can also be employed to determine MAC values from relative X-ray intensities, as well as to calculate absolute X-ray intensities for comparison with experimental data and Monte Carlo simulations.

For more detailed information about BadgerFilm capabilities, check out our two open access publications:
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927620024915
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927620024927

BadgerFilm is written in .NET Visual Basic and the source code can be found at this repository link:
https://github.com/Aurelien354/BadgerFilm

Many thanks to John Donovan for hosting this discussion board on the Probe Software User's Forum.

Just catching up on this, via Llovet et al paper on MACs, looks really impressive, - quantification of bulk and calculation of MACs - in paper part1. Will have to try it out