Portland cement particle

Images made through a microscope. All subject types.

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Duke
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Portland cement particle

Post by Duke »

Polished section.
Episcopic illumination (Nikon Optiphot, Nikon BD Plan 50x 0.85 210/0, Canon 500D)
Cement_Particle_EPI_preview.jpg
*ORIGINAL_RESOLUTION*
SEM, BSE
Cement_Particle_BSE_preview.jpg
*ORIGINAL_RESOLUTION*
SEM, EDS PHASE MAP
Cement_Particle_EDS_preview.jpg
*ORIGINAL_RESOLUTION*

The First image is a stack of ~20 photos, there appears to be some detail loss (and artifacts), in comparison to single images, when stacking such thin transparent objects, like crystals (Ca3SiO5*Ca2SiO4, yellow zones).
I wonder, maybe there is a way to get around this issue. I've tried to retouch it manually, but with little to no luck.
“Thoroughly conscious ignorance is the prelude to every real advance in science.” - JCM

Duke
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Joined: Tue May 12, 2020 10:06 am
Location: Leningrad, USSR
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Re: Portland cement particle

Post by Duke »

Few more particles, for good measure. Episcopic illumination (Nikon Optiphot, Nikon BD Plan 50x 0.85 210/0, Canon 500D)
P_3_preview.jpg
*ORIGINAL_RESOLUTION*
P_4_preview.jpg
*ORIGINAL_RESOLUTION*

This "rainbow" interference effects happen only on transparent objects, while opaque objects perform more or less stable even in deep diffraction territory.
Gold sheets in Pt-Pd selenates. Episcopic illumination (Nikon Optiphot, Nikon PlanAPO 150x 0.95 210/0, Canon 500D)
1500x-1_preview.jpg
*ORIGINAL_RESOLUTION*
1500x-1-BSE_preview.jpg
*ORIGINAL_RESOLUTION*
^^SEM, BSE
“Thoroughly conscious ignorance is the prelude to every real advance in science.” - JCM

Lou Jost
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Re: Portland cement particle

Post by Lou Jost »

Itr is really interesting to see the visible-light image and the SEM of exactly the same thing at the same magnification. I don't think I have ever seen such a pair before.

rjlittlefield
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Re: Portland cement particle

Post by rjlittlefield »

Duke wrote:
Tue Mar 30, 2021 5:52 am
The First image is a stack of ~20 photos, there appears to be some detail loss (and artifacts), in comparison to single images, when stacking such thin transparent objects, like crystals (Ca3SiO5*Ca2SiO4, yellow zones).
I wonder, maybe there is a way to get around this issue. I've tried to retouch it manually, but with little to no luck.
I have studied the full resolution image, but I cannot identify "detail loss (and artifacts)" in the stacked image alone. Probably I would need to see a single image also, to understand the specific problems you are encountering.

As a general comment, it is common that stacks shot at large NA somehow look "messy" compared to single images. Often this is due to the "squirming around" effect illustrated at https://www.photomacrography.net/forum/ ... 87#p149187 . The problem is tough enough with opaque subjects. It may be even worse with transparent subjects, and I do not know any great way to get around the issue. Whenever a problem cannot be fixed by manual retouching, that is a good indication that it's a hard problem!

I agree with Lou, by the way. It is very interesting to see side-by-side optical and SEM images of the same subject at the same magnification. Thanks for the comparison.

--Rik

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