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At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Distance and location assimilation effects in rapid bimanual movement.

When subjects make simultaneous aiming movements of the upper limbs over different distances, assimilation effects are shown; the shorter distance limb overshoots when paired with a longer distance limb. However, it is not known whether assimilation effects are due to variations in distance per se or to variations in target location. To separate the possible influences of distance and location, 60 subjects made rapid bimanual aiming movements in one of four conditions. The two different-distance groups made a 20 degrees movement in the left hand and a 60 degrees movement in the right hand to either the same or different target locations. The comparison groups moved 20 degrees in each limb. Somewhat surprisingly, spatial assimilations were greater when moving different distances to the same, rather than different, target locations, which suggests interlimb differences in distance mediate assimilation effects rather than target location. Temporal assimilations were greater when distance and location were varied, but the assimilations were not related to interlimb differences in velocity, as predicted by Marteniuk and MacKenzie (1980).

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Effects of viewing distance on the responses of vestibular neurons to combined angular and linear vestibular stimulation.

Effects of viewing distance on the responses of vestibular neurons to combined angular and linear vestibular stimulation. The firing behavior of 59 horizontal canal-related secondary vestibular neurons was studied in alert squirrel monkeys during the combined angular and linear vestibuloocular reflex (CVOR). The CVOR was evoked by positioning the animal's head 20 cm in front of, or behind, the axis of rotation during whole body rotation (0.7, 1.9, and 4.0 Hz). The effect of viewing distance was studied by having the monkeys fixate small targets that were either near (10 cm) or far (1.3-1.7 m) from the eyes. Most units (50/59) were sensitive to eye movements and were monosynaptically activated after electrical stimulation of the vestibular nerve (51/56 tested). The responses of eye movement-related units were significantly affected by viewing distance. The viewing distance-related change in response gain of many eye-head-velocity and burst-position units was comparable with the change in eye movement gain. On the other hand, position-vestibular-pause units were approximately half as sensitive to changes in viewing distance as were eye movements. The sensitivity of units to the linear vestibuloocular reflex (LVOR) was estimated by subtraction of angular vestibuloocular reflex (AVOR)-related responses recorded with the head in the center of the axis of rotation from CVOR responses. During far target viewing, unit sensitivity to linear translation was small, but during near target viewing the firing rate of many units was strongly modulated. The LVOR responses and viewing distance-related LVOR responses of most units were nearly in phase with linear head velocity. The signals generated by secondary vestibular units during voluntary cancellation of the AVOR and CVOR were comparable. However, unit sensitivity to linear translation and angular rotation were not well correlated either during far or near target viewing. Unit LVOR responses were also not well correlated with their sensitivity to smooth pursuit eye movements or their sensitivity to viewing distance during the AVOR. On the other hand there was a significant correlation between static eye position sensitivity and sensitivity to viewing distance. We conclude that secondary horizontal canal-related vestibuloocular pathways are an important part of the premotor neural substrate that produces the LVOR. The otolith sensory signals that appear on these pathways have been spatially and temporally transformed to match the angular eye movement commands required to stabilize images at different distances. We suggest that this transformation may be performed by the circuits related to temporal integration of the LVOR.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Long-distance calls in Neotropical primates.

Long-distance calls are widespread among primates. Several studies concentrate on such calls in just one or in few species, while few studies have treated more general trends within the order. The common features that usually characterize these vocalizations are related to long-distance propagation of sounds. The proposed functions of primate long-distance calls can be divided into extragroup and intragroup ones. Extragroup functions relate to mate defense, mate attraction or resource defense, while intragroup functions involve group coordination or alarm. Among Neotropical primates, several species perform long-distance calls that seem more related to intragroup coordination, markedly in atelines. Callitrichids present long-distance calls that are employed both in intragroup coordination and intergroup contests or spacing. Examples of extragroup directed long-distance calls are the duets of titi monkeys and the roars and barks of howler monkeys. Considerable complexity and gradation exist in the long-distance call repertoires of some Neotropical primates, and female long-distance calls are probably more important in non-duetting species than usually thought. Future research must focus on larger trends in the evolution of primate long-distance calls, including the phylogeny of calling repertoires and the relationships between form and function in these signals.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Descartes's blind man revisited: bimanual triangulation of distance using static hand-held rods.

Analogous to binocular convergence, we tested Descartes's proposal that a blind person could triangulate distances using crossed hand-held rods by sensing hand separation and wrist angles. In Experiment 1, 22 participants judged distances to loci at 4 distances, 18-36 in. (45.7-91.4 cm), at 5 eccentricities, 0-12 in. (0-30.5 cm) left and right of center. Participants reliably differentiated and scaled distances. The median individual multiple correlation (actual distances and eccentricities vs. judged distances; nonlinear with eccentricity) was .91 (range, .75 to .95; group R = .98). In Experiment 2, 2 experienced observers judged 7 distances, 30-66 in. (76.2-167.6 cm) at 7 eccentricities, 0-18 in. (0-45.7 cm) left and right. Results replicated those of Experiment 1, with nonlinear multiple Rs of .97 and .99 for the 2 participants. Bimanual triangulation supported reliable distance judgments, comparable to binocular distance perception. No evidence of perceptual learning was found.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Obtaining a clinical laboratory science degree via distance technology.

OBJECTIVE: To identify institutions and program officials associated with clinical laboratory science (CLS) academic programs available via distance technology; to collect and summarize data from these programs with regard to on-line instructional methodologies; to determine the level of success of educational strategies and methodologies utilized in on-line CLS programs; to determine the feasibility of developing an on-line program at Seward County Community College (SCCC), Liberal, Kansas. DESIGN: An on-line CLS program survey tool was sent to eight higher education institutions which had previously indicated that they offer a CLS academic program at the associate, bachelor, or master level via distance technology. Program officials were asked to answer questions pertaining to areas such as program format, on-line admission requirements, program costs, student costs, faculty workload, and on-campus versus on-line student performance. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: The survey was sent to eight program officials who identified their institutions as having a CLS program available through distance technology. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Responses from current distance technology CLS program officials were collected and tallied. Responses were recorded as 'yes' or 'no' in categories such as program format, program and student costs, and comparison of on-campus versus on-line student performance. The two groups of students were compared in areas of success rate, retention rate, graduation rate, external certification pass rate, employment placement rate, and employer satisfaction level. RESULTS: The response rate for the survey was 87.5% (7/8). Program officials indicated that various educational methodologies were incorporated in providing CLS education via distance technology. All of the respondents utilize some type of Web-enhanced, Internet based access to deliver course material. Clinical laboratory procedures are taught via instruction within a cooperative laboratory, program clinical affiliate laboratory, or during on-campus student laboratories. Program officials indicated that student enrollment has increased due to the availability of the distance technology. Students enrolled via distance technology perform as well or better than the on-campus students on certification exams and in the clinical setting. Data from these institutions indicate that it is feasible to develop an on-line program at SCCC in an effort to increase student enrollment. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that CLS programs which offer the curriculum via distance technology have experienced increased student enrollment thus graduating more students to fill the employment needs. These current distance technology programs are leading the future trends in CLS education of the 21st century.

Clinical Laboratory Techniques↗
PubMed1985

Effect of distance instructions on size judgments.

The proposition that in a reduced-cue setting subjects could use cognitive information about an object's distance to make accurate judgments of its size was tested. An improved paradigm was used to determine the effects of distance instructions per se. This paradigm also allowed independent tests of the effectiveness of cue reduction. The data indicated that cue reduction was successful and that the specific distance tendency governed size judgments when there were no distance instructions. When distance instructions were given, they produced size judgments in precisely the ratio predicted by the size-distance invariance hypothesis. However, there was a large constant error, which reflects a tendency of college students to overestimate the amount of distance signified by a verbal instruction. Hence, cognitive information in the form of verbal distance instructions has precise effects on size judgments, but the latter are not veridical, even in the absence of anchor effects from the specific distance tendency and residual perceptual cues.

Cognition↗
PubMed1996

Effects of experimentally achievable improvements in the quality of NMR distance constraints on the accuracy of calculated protein structures.

New methods for collecting cross-relaxation data from proteins and nucleic acids make it possible to improve the accuracy and precision of interproton distance measurements used as input for NMR solution structure determinations. It thus is of interest to determine whether such experimentally achievable improvements in input distance constraints have significant effects on the precision and accuracy of the resulting structures. To answer this question, we have turned to a computational procedure involving the use of data simulated from a known structure, in order to allow unambiguous assessments of accuracy. The approach to improved distances evaluated here is that afforded by magnetization exchange network editing (MENE); MENE pulse sequences break the network of cross-relaxation interactions into regions that are manipulated so as to defeat certain spin-diffusion terms. A target structure was prepared from the X-ray structure of a small protein, turkey ovomucoid third domain (OMTKY3). A normal NOESY spectrum and two varieties of MENE spectra, BD-NOESY and CBD-NOESY, were simulated by means of complete relaxation matrix analysis. These results were used to create different input data sets with the same number of constraints (perfectly accurate distances derived from the target structure, more accurate distances derived from the MENE simulations, and less accurate distances derived from the NOESY simulation), and these, interpreted at different levels of precision, were used as input for solution structure calculations. The results showed that the use of more precise input data measurably improves the local precision and accuracy of calculated structures, but only if the more precise data include the actual target distance. Incorporation of the experimentally achievable, accurate distances with higher precision afforded by the MENE pulse sequences into the set of input distances was found to improve the accuracy of the resulting structures, particularly in terms of side-chain conformation.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Viewing-distance invariance of movement detection.

Since visual movement information is often presented in electronic displays or films it is amazing that there is a paucity of research on the influence of viewing distance on motion detection in cinematograms. We report a relatively high degree of detection constancy with changing viewing distance for coherent motion in random-pixel cinematograms. A constant performance irrespective of viewing-distance is called 'distance-invariance' and for motion detection it proves to hold reasonably well for a relatively wide range of viewing distances both for foveal and eccentric vision. The limits of this viewing-distance invariance are explored as a function of screen velocity. Detection performance is quantified by a threshold signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR-) value, S, which is determined as a function of velocity for a range of viewing distances from 53 to 13,476 mm for foveal vision and from 60 to 1925 mm at 24 degrees eccentricity on the nasal horizontal meridian of the right eye's retina. The data can be explained, at least qualitatively, by a model in which a spatial-resolution stack has a stack of velocity-tuned motion detectors at every resolution layer. Such a 'stack-of-stacks' model is in line with proposals for contrast-detection stack-models, but it suggests that the usual hypothesis that motion perception is based on the activity of two separate systems, the short-range and the long-range system, might be superfluous. This two-systems distinction was largely based on the different performance found for moving random dot patterns and moving form-defined stimuli. A moving random pixel array viewed at very close range (e.g. 6 cm) presents the subject with relatively large almost square 'blobs', which are less dissimilar from the phi-stimuli used in classic motion perception studies than random dot stimuli at the usual medium to large viewing distances. It leads to maximum displacement threshold (Dm-) values that are not untypical of the 'long-range' system, but by gradually increasing the viewing-distance and thus decreasing the pixel-size a continuous change is found from typical long-range to typical short-range values of Dm. The two-systems distinction for motion detection appears to refer to the stimulus rather than to the visual system: The motion-detection system might be forced into a local or a global 'mode of operation' by the choice of stimulus.

Female↗
PubMed2006

Effect of light-tip distance on the shear bond strengths of resin-modified glass ionomer cured with high-intensity halogen, light-emitting diode, and plasma arc lights.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of light-tip distance on the shear bond strength and the failure site of brackets cured with 3 light-curing units (high-intensity halogen, light-emitting diode, and plasma arc). METHODS: One hundred thirty-five bovine mandibular permanent incisors were randomly allocated to 9 groups of 15 specimens each. Stainless steel brackets (Victory Series, Unitek/3M, Monrovia, Calif) were bonded with a resin-modified glass-ionomer (Fuji Ortho LC, GC Europe, Leuven, Belgium) to the teeth, and each curing light was tested at 3 distances from the bracket: 0, 3, and 6 mm. After bonding, all samples were stored in distilled water at room temperature for 24 hours and subsequently tested for shear bond strength. RESULTS: When the 3 light-curing units were compared at a light-tip distance of 0mm, they showed no significantly different shear bond strengths. At a light-tip distance of 3 mm, no significant differences were found between the halogen and plasma arc lights, but both lights showed significantly higher shear bond strengths than the light-emitting diode light. At a light-tip distance of 6 mm, no significant differences were found between the halogen and light-emitting diode lights, but both showed significantly lower bond strengths than the plasma arc light. When the effect of the light-tip distance on each light-curing unit was evaluated, the halogen and light-emitting diode lights showed no significant differences among the 3 distances. However, the plasma arc light produced significantly higher shear bond strengths at a greater light-tip distance. No significant differences were found among the adhesive remnant index scores of the various groups, except with the LED light at a distance of 3 mm. CONCLUSIONS: In hard-to-reach areas, the plasma arc curing light is suggested for optimal curing efficiency.

Acrylic Resins↗
PubMed2006

Preferred viewing distance and screen angle of electronic paper displays.

This study explored the viewing distance and screen angle for electronic paper (E-Paper) displays under various light sources, ambient illuminations, and character sizes. Data analysis showed that the mean viewing distance and screen angle were 495 mm and 123.7 degrees. The mean viewing distances for Kolin Chlorestic Liquid Crystal display was 500 mm, significantly longer than Sony electronic ink display, 491 mm. Screen angle for Kolin was 127.4 degrees, significantly greater than that of Sony, 120.0 degrees. Various light sources revealed no significant effect on viewing distances; nevertheless, they showed significant effect on screen angles. The screen angle for sunlight lamp (D65) was similar to that of fluorescent lamp (TL84), but greater than that of tungsten lamp (F). Ambient illumination and E-paper type had significant effects on viewing distance and screen angle. The higher the ambient illumination was, the longer the viewing distance and the lesser the screen angle. Character size had significant effect on viewing distances: the larger the character size, the longer the viewing distance. The results of this study indicated that the viewing distance for E-Paper was similar to that of visual display terminal (VDT) at around 500 mm, but greater than normal paper at about 360 mm. The mean screen angle was around 123.7 degrees, which in terms of viewing angle is 29.5 degrees below horizontal eye level. This result is similar to the general suggested viewing angle between 20 degrees and 50 degrees below the horizontal line of sight.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

A distance ruler for RNA using EPR and site-directed spin labeling.

As a basic model study for measuring distances in RNA molecules using continuous wave (CW) EPR spectroscopy, site-directed spin-labeled 10-mer RNA duplexes and HIV-1 TAR RNA motifs with various interspin distances were examined. The spin labels were attached to the 2'-NH2 positions of appropriately placed uridines in the duplexes, and interspin distances were measured from both molecular dynamics simulations (MD) and Fourier deconvolution methods (FD). The 10-mer duplexes have interspin distances ranging from 10 A to 30 A based on MD; however, dipolar line broadening of the CW EPR spectrum is only observed for the RNAs for predicted interspin distances of 10-21 A and not for distances over 25 A. The conformational changes in TAR (transactivating responsive region) RNA in the presence and in the absence of different divalent metal ions were monitored by measuring distances between two nucleotides in the bulge region. The predicted interspin distances obtained from the FD method and those from MD calculations match well for both the model RNA duplexes and the structural changes predicted for TAR RNA. These results demonstrate that distance measurement using EPR spectroscopy is a potentially powerful method to help predict the structures of RNA molecules.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed2006

Variation of depth of cure and intensity with distance using LED curing lights.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to determine the correlation between intensity of light-emitting diode (LED) and tungsten-halogen light sources, and depth of cure of a resin composite at different distances. METHODS: Four LED curing lights (Flashlite 1001, Freelight 2, Smartlite IQ and Ultralume 5) and one tungsten halogen (Optilux 501, with 8 and 11 mm tips) were evaluated. Intensity was measured according a modified ISO Standard 10650 at distances of 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 mm between the light tip and detector. Depth of cure (DOC) of TPH Spectrum shade A2 was measured according to the international standard ISO 4049 at the same distances. RESULTS: For all lights, intensity decreased as distance increased. The authors documented a logarithmic correlation between intensity and distance for all lights except the Smartlite IQ, Ultralume 5 and the Optilux 501 with the 11 mm tip, which showed a linear relationship between intensity and distance. All lights demonstrated a logarithmic correlation between intensity and DOC, and a linear correlation between DOC and distance. Smartlite IQ and Optilux 501 (11 mm tip) also had the least reduction in intensity and DOC at 10 mm. SIGNIFICANCE: Clinicians often an experience difficulty placing the light tip close to the resin surface when curing resin composites. While both intensity and DOC decrease with increasing distance, the relationship between these factors and distance may not be similar for all lights and may depend on the characteristics of individual lights.

Composite Resins↗
PubMed2006

Measuring spike pattern reliability with the Lempel-Ziv-distance.

Spike train distance measures serve two purposes: to measure neuronal firing reliability, and to provide a metric with which spike trains can be classified. We introduce a novel spike train distance based on the Lempel-Ziv complexity that does not require the choice of arbitrary analysis parameters, is easy to implement, and computationally cheap. We determine firing reliability in vivo by calculating the deviation of the mean distance of spike trains obtained from multiple presentations of an identical stimulus from a Poisson reference. Using both the Lempel-Ziv-distance (LZ-distance) and a distance focussing on coincident firing, the pattern and timing reliability of neuronal firing is determined for spike data obtained along the visual information processing pathway of macaque monkey (LGN, simple and complex cells of V1, and area MT). In combination with the sequential superparamagnetic clustering algorithm, we show that the LZ-distance groups together spike trains with similar but not necessarily synchronized firing patterns. For both applications, we show how the LZ-distance gives additional insights, as it adds a new perspective on the problem of firing reliability determination and allows neuron classifications in cases, where other distance measures fail.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2000

Interspin distances in spin-labeled metmyoglobin variants determined by saturation recovery EPR.

Saturation recovery (SR) electron paramagnetic resonance was used to determine the distance between iron and nitroxyl for spin-labeled metmyoglobin variants in low-spin and high-spin states of the Fe(III). The interspin distances were measured by analyzing the effect of the heme iron on the spin-lattice relaxation rates of the nitroxyl spin label using the modified Bloembergen equation for low-spin species, and an analogue of the Bloembergen equation for high-spin species. Insight simulations of the spin-labeled protein structures also were used to determine the interspin distances. The distances obtained by SR for high-spin and low-spin complexes with 15-20 A interspin distances, for low-spin CN(-) and high-spin formate adducts at distances up to about 30 A, and results from Insight calculations were in good agreement. For variants with 25-30 A interspin distances, the distances obtained by SR for the fluoride adducts were shorter than observed for the CN(-) or formate adducts or predicted by Insight simulations. Of the heme axial ligands examined (CN(-), imidazole, F(-), and formate), CN(-) is the best choice for determination of iron-nitroxyl distances in the range of 15-30 A.

Amino Acid Substitution↗
PubMed2003

Measuring distances in supported bilayers by fluorescence interference-contrast microscopy: polymer supports and SNARE proteins.

Fluorescence interference-contrast (FLIC) microscopy is a powerful new technique to measure vertical distances from reflective surfaces. A pattern of varying intensity is created by constructive and destructive interference of the incoming and reflected light at the surface of an oxidized silicon chip. Different levels of this pattern are probed by manufacturing silicon chips with terraces of oxide layers of different heights. Fluorescence collected from membranes that are deposited on these terraces is then used to measure the distance of the fluorescent probes from the silicon oxide surface. Here, we applied the method to measure the distance between supported lipid bilayers and the surface of oxidized silicon chips. For plain fluid phosphatidylcholine bilayers, this distance was 1.7 +/- 1.0 nm. The cleft distance was increased to 3.9 +/- 0.9 nm in bilayers that were supported on a 3400-Da polyethylene glycol cushion. This distance is close to the Flory distance (4.8 nm) that would be expected for a grafted random coil of this polymer. In a second application, the distance of a membrane-bound protein from the membrane surface was measured. The integral membrane protein syntaxin1A/SNAP25 (t-SNARE) was reconstituted into tethered polymer-supported bilayers. A soluble form of the green fluorescent protein/vesicle-associated membrane protein (GFP-VAMP) was bound to the reconstituted t-SNAREs. The distance of the GFP from the membrane surface was 16.5 +/- 2.8 nm, indicating an upright orientation of the rod-shaped t-SNARE/v-SNARE complex from the membrane surface.

Antigens, Surface↗
PubMed1995

Sliding distance per ATP molecule hydrolyzed by myosin heads during isotonic shortening of skinned muscle fibers.

We measured isotonic sliding distance of single skinned fibers from rabbit psoas muscle when known and limited amounts of ATP were made available to the contractile apparatus. The fibers were immersed in paraffin oil at 20 degrees C, and laser pulse photolysis of caged ATP within the fiber initiated the contraction. The amount of ATP released was measured by photolyzing 3H-ATP within fibers, separating the reaction products by high-pressure liquid chromatography, and then counting the effluent peaks by liquid scintillation. The fiber stiffness was monitored to estimate the proportion of thick and thin filament sites interacting during filament sliding. The interaction distance, Di, defined as the sliding distance while a myosin head interacts with actin in the thin filament per ATP molecule hydrolyzed, was estimated from the shortening distance, the number of ATP molecules hydrolyzed by the myosin heads, and the stiffness. Di increased from 11 to 60 nm as the isotonic tension was reduced from 80% to 6% of the isometric tension. Velocity and Di increased with the concentration of ATP available. As isotonic load was increased, the interaction distance decreased linearly with decrease of the shortening velocity and extrapolated to 8 nm at zero velocity. Extrapolation of the relationship between Di and velocity to saturating ATP concentration suggests that Di reaches 100-190 nm at high shortening velocity. The interaction distance corresponds to the sliding distance while cross-bridges are producing positive (working) force plus the distance while they are dragging (producing negative forces). The results indicate that the working and drag distances increase as the velocity increases. Because Di is larger than the size of either the myosin head or the actin monomer, the results suggest that for each ATPase cycle, a myosin head interacts mechanically with several actin monomers either while working or while producing drag.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗
PubMed1997

The distance used for scaling disparities is the same as the one used for scaling retinal size.

To determine the physical size and global three-dimensional (3-D) shape of an object, retinal size and retinal disparity have to be scaled in accordance with the object's distance. We examined whether the distance used for scaling retinal disparity is the same as the distance used for scaling retinal size. Subjects adjusted the 3-D shape (size and depth) of a computer-simulated ellipsoid to match a tennis ball. Analysis of the errors when only the ellipsoid was visible in an otherwise completely dark room suggests that the distance used for scaling retinal disparity is indeed the same as that used for scaling retinal size. This was confirmed by showing that the correspondence between the distance used for scaling retinal disparity and that used for scaling retinal size does not improve when more information about distance is available (room lights on), although both distances are then much closer to the simulated distance. Finally, we show that this correspondence is not due to the use of distance-invariant higher order binocular information.

Cues↗
PubMed2001

Crystal thickness and extinction distance determination using energy filtered CBED pattern intensity measurement and dynamical diffraction theory fitting.

A new method for measuring thickness and extinction distance of single crystals based on computed adjustment of measured and calculated CBED pattern intensity profiles is presented and discussed. The experimental beam intensity distribution is measured from an energy filtered CBED pattern recorded on a CCD camera. The calculated profile is based on dynamical diffraction theory, and with the two-beam approximation the analytical expression contains only two free parameters: specimen thickness t and extinction distance xig. Parameter refinement through minimization of the difference between experimental and calculated intensity profiles is carried out using Origin 5.0 software from Microcal. The iterative procedure always converges to a unique solution in a few seconds, yielding an accurate value for both thickness and extinction distance. The method is extensively tested on silicon using the (0 0 4) Bragg reflection. On specimens in the usual TEM thickness range, the method gives result similar to the conventional (P.M. Kelly et al., Phys. Stat. Sol. A31 (1975) 771; S.M. Allen, Philos. Mag. A 43 (1981) 325) graphical methods, both based on the measurement of fringe spacing. Moreover, it is shown that the calculation matches perfectly both the positions of the minimums and maximums as well as the amplitude of maximums. For any single intensity profile, specimen thickness and extinction distance can be determined with a precision of about 0.2%. A statistical comparison of our method with the Kelly and Allen techniques, based on more than 50 experiments, shows an improvement in measured extinction distance dispersion. Using 197 keV electrons, and liquid-nitrogen cryo-holder, the new technique yields an experimental value of 161+/-3 nm for the extinction distance for silicon with the (0 0 4) Bragg reflection. The equivalent tabulated value at 0 K is about 156 nm. Using the Kelly and Allen methods, the extinction distance is found to be 162+/-6 nm. The improvement in precision is a direct consequence of matching the intensity profile envelope, which contains information on the extinction distance. Also the accuracy of thickness determination is improved and is around 0.5 to 1% for common specimen thickness. The minimum measurable sample thickness is shown to be two to three times thinner than with the Kelly and Allen methods (0.3 xig, as opposed to 0.8 xig). With no independent calculation of the extinction distance needed, the method is also applicable on unknown crystals. The method is fast, simple and can be easily automated.

Journal Article↗