New Features In Probe for EPMA

[lsaper]

Hi John,

Is there an option to perform a 2d raster during acquisition instead of a linear increment?

Lee

[John Donovan]

Hi John,

Is there an option to perform a 2d raster during acquisition instead of a linear increment?

Lee

Hi Lee,
Are you referring to the previous post?

You can certainly perform quant acquisitions using a scanned beam to reduce sample oxidation. Alternatively you can acquire a 2d x-ray map in Probe Image and quant it in CalcImage.  In fact, in Probe Image you can acquire multiple frames, then quant it in CalcImage using the TDI method to extrapolate the pixel intensities back to zero time.

https://probesoftware.com/smf/index.php?topic=912.0

But I have the feeling I'm not quite following your question. Can you provide an example of what you're trying to accomplish?
john

[John Donovan]

During the 2019 M&M meeting Anette von der Handt gave us a few suggestions that we thought would be useful to implement. They are now available with the current version (update from the Help menu), and include first, a new "string selection" feature in the Analyze! and Automate!  windows. With this feature you can type in a string and the program will auto select all samples that contain the string. For example in the Analyze! window screenshot here, the user has typed "MB2":



We also re-arranged the controls a bit and second, brought out the "Display Samples with Data" checkbox and added another one of these checkboxes in the Plot! window, so one only sees samples that contain data, or at least contains "enabled" (not all disabled) data:



Here's a view of the new Automate! window with some re-arranged controls and the new "string selection" feature:



Maybe the layout in these windows are a bit more pleasing to the eye?

[John Donovan]

We modified the output from the Run | List Standard Compositions menu here:



To include output of the average atomic number (Zbar) values for each standard as seen here:



Update Probe for EPMA now for this tweak which some may find useful.

[John Donovan]

The latest version of PFE 12.7.8 has a new option for the "filament standby" option which is accessed from the Automate! window as seen here:



To utilize this new filament standby option you should edit your probewin.ini as follows in the [hardware] section:

FilamentStandbyType=4
FilamentStandbyExternalScript=”<path>\<file>.PCC”

A complete excerpt of these keywords is here from the Probewin help file:

FilamentStandbyType=0
The filament standby type for tungsten instruments (ThermalFieldEmissionPresent=0). The default is zero to just reduce the heat to the standby level. To reduce the heat AND turn off the HV, set FilamentStandbyType = 1. To only reduce the HV but leave the heat on (LaB6 filaments), set FilamentStandbyType = 2. To run an external script, set FilamentStandbyType = 3.  To load a previously saved probe column condition file (.PCC), set FilamentStandbyType = 4.

If the instrument is a JEOL 8530 the FilamentStandbyType has no effect, and this feature will simply close the gun valve (V1) in filament standby mode (ON) and open the gun valve in filament standby mode (OFF)- assuming the specimen vacuum is within the allowable range.

FilamentStandbyExternalScript=””
The name of the external script or .PCC probe column condition file to be run if the FilamentStandbyType = 3 or FilamentStandby = 4. For the external script this can be any executable, e.g., .exe, .bat, etc. The full path to the external script must be specified, e.g., “C:\UserData\Shutdown.bat”. For the .PCC probe column condition file, the full path to the .PCC file must be specified, e.g., “C:\UserData\ColumnPCCData\Filament_Standby.PCC”

[theo_nt]

Hi John,

from some reason I cannot see the new checkbox the option in the automate. The new version 12.7.8 has been installed but  I still have the old automate window.

Theo

[John Donovan]

Hi Theo,
The Use Filament Standby Afterwards checkbox option is and always has been there.  It might be grayed out if you don't have one or more Automation Actions selected at the top.
john

[Gseward]

John,

I think I see the source of the confusion:

On the Cameca FEG instrument, the .ini entry:

ThermalFieldEmissionPresent=1

Will be present. This (I believe) means that instead of:

"Use Filament Standby Afterwards"

appearing in the Automate! window, the FEG text:

"Close FE Gun Valve Afterwards"

will be present. I suspect however that the functionality of the radio will be the same regardless of the text. Can you confirm this???

Or do we need:

 ThermalFieldEmissionPresent=0 

even when it should be =1

Gareth

[theo_nt]

John, this is my Automate after update

[John Donovan]

John, this is my Automate after update

Hi Theo,
Ah, I see. Yes, it's as Gareth wrote below.

Because you have declared that you have a FEG instrument, it thinks you should have an automated gun valve, and you do, it's just that Cameca has not provided us with a method to automate the gun valve.  We have asked them!

So yes, as Gareth says, just check that box and as long as you changed the FilamentStandbyType=4 in your Probewin.ini file it should load the .PCC file specified in the FilamentStandbyExternalScript keyword.

As soon as we get a chance we will fix the label on that checkbox to reflect Cameca FEG instruments.  It was just that we were only thinking of JEOL FEG instruments when we did that!

Sorry for the confusion!   

[John Donovan]

Or do we need:

 ThermalFieldEmissionPresent=0 

even when it should be =1

Absolutely do not change this!  If you have a FEG instrument, you need to specify that it is a a FEG instrument!

[theo_nt]

John,
yes it works, thanks a lot
Theo

[John Donovan]

Cool.  I think using a .PCC file for filament standby will be useful for others as well.

Thanks for getting me to do this.  We should have an updated version with the correct checkbox caption in about 5 or 6 hours for you to update to.

[Gseward]

Whilst we are on the topic of .PCC files: I made some observations on a SX5 FEG that might require some consideration. You can move the post if it needs to go somewhere else.

As I understand it, the SX5 has some extra column parameters that are associated with the deflection of the bean in/out of the faraday cup. There may also be some other parameters associated with the FEG column that I forgot about.  Hence, currently,  the full definition of the column condition is probably not being read/written. Discovering the extra parameters might require someone with an SX5 doing a little investigation....... 

[John Donovan]

We recently added a new button in the Imaging and Digitize Image windows in Probe for EPMA. These two windows of course allows one to acquire analog signal images and/or digitize points on the acquired image:



This new Load Image button now allows the user to load an external image that was acquired by another application, for example the JEOL or Cameca OEM software, or even the Bruker, Thermo or JEOL EDS software, *as long as the current stage position and mag or FOV have not been changed* since the image was acquired.

The idea is similar to how PictureSnapApp can load an externally acquired image file from whatever source, and then calibrate the image based on the current stage position and mag or FOV:

https://probesoftware.com/smf/index.php?topic=1094.msg7332#msg7332

Normally the image will be the same aspect ratio as the aspect ratio defined in PFE (since the image will be acquired on the same instrument), but this feature will automatically "crop" the image if necessary to match the current aspect ratio defined in Probe for EPMA.

Once the image is acquired in the Digitize Image window, it can be utilized for digitizing points as usual:

https://probesoftware.com/smf/index.php?topic=138.msg559#msg559

If your external image file was saved on the same computer as Probe for EPMA, just browse to the image file (BMP, GIF or JPG), and select it.  If the image is saved to a separate computer, you should create a shared folder on that other computer and link to it. I usually place a shortcut on my desktop to the shared folder if I'm going to be accessing it regularly.