arXiv subjects

Barry Lai

Publications and source records attributed to Barry Lai.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Acquisition Geometry-Assisted Whole-Group Localization of X-ray Fluorescence Maps in Optical Microscopy Images

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) microscopy maps elemental distributions, while optical microscopy can provide complementary morphological context. Localizing XRF fields of view (FOVs) in optical images is difficult because the two modalities differ in contrast mechanism and resolution. Most current workflows place each XRF tile independently, even when acquisition metadata already record the tiles' relative scan positions. This study formalizes XRF tile-group localization, in which one optical-frame placement is estimated for the whole group, constrained by acquisition geometry and quantified using group intersection-over-union (GroupIoU). In a controlled case study, independent localization failed with GroupIoU 0.000, whereas group localization achieved 0.931. Replacing the normalized cross-correlation (NCC) metric with mutual information (MI) gave nearly identical results, showing that the outcome is not specific to one local similarity metric. In another multiscale case study, using a coarse XRF survey scan to connect the fine-scale tile group to the optical image increased mean GroupIoU from 0.694 to 0.856. These case studies support using acquisition geometry as an explicit constraint when localizing related XRF tiles.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2026

XRF-to-Optical Field-of-View Localization with Vision Language Models

Registering images acquired with different microscopy modalities is essential for relating complementary measurements of the same specimen. In correlative X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and optical microscopy, the XRF map often covers only a small region of an optical image acquired from the same or an adjacent tissue section. Field-of-view (FOV) localization is necessary but can be difficult when appearance and structure differ across modalities. Here we evaluate training-free vision language model (VLM) localization on two datasets representing same-section high-correspondence and adjacent-section low-correspondence imaging. We test unconstrained and metadata-constrained search and compare VLMs with geometric controls, classical template matching, and two alternative training-free approaches (DINOv2 and multiGradICON). Direct VLM prompting produced content-dependent spatial signals but was not reliable alone. Classical matching was most accurate when cross-modal structure was preserved but failed in the low-correspondence collection. A proposal-and-verify workflow used repeated VLM predictions as candidates and image-based similarity to select the final location. This workflow recovered useful localization in the low-correspondence regime.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2022

Visualisation of sulphur on single fibre level for pulping industry

In the pulp and paper industry, about 5 Mt/y chemithermomechanical pulp (CTMP) are produced globally from softwood chips for production of carton board grades. For tailor making CTMP for this purpose, wood chips are impregnated with aqueous sodium sulphite for sulphonation of the wood lignin. When lignin is sulphonated, the defibration of wood into pulp becomes more selective, resulting in enhanced pulp properties. On a microscopic fibre scale, however, one could strongly assume that the sulphonation of the wood structure is very uneven due to its macroscale size of wood chips. If this is the case and the sulphonation could be done significantly more evenly, the CTMP process could be more efficient and produce pulp even better suited for carton boards. Therefore, the present study aimed to develop a technique based on X-ray fluorescence microscopy imaging (uXRF) for quantifying the sulphur distribution on CTMP wood fibres. The feasibility of uXRF imaging for sulphur homogeneity measurements in wood fibres needs investigation. Clarification of which spatial and spectral resolution that allows visualization of sulphur impregnation into single wood fibres is needed. Measurements of single fibre imaging were carried out at the APS synchrotron facility. With a synchrotron beam using 1 um scanning step, images of elemental mapping are acquired from CTMP samples diluted with non-sulphonated pulp under specified conditions. Since the measurements show significant differ-ences between sulphonated and non-sulphonated fibres, and a significant peak concentration in the shell of the sulphonated fibres, the proposed technique is found to be feasible. The required spatial resolution of the uXRF imaging for an on-site CTMP sulphur homogeneity measurement setup is about 15 um, and the homogeneity measured along the fibre shells is suggested to be used as the CTMP sulphonation measurement parameter.

eess.SY↗

arXiv2018

Homogenization of Halide Distribution and Carrier Dynamics in Alloyed Organic-Inorganic Perovskites

Perovskite solar cells have shown remarkable efficiencies beyond 22%, through organic and inorganic cation alloying. However, the role of alkali-metal cations is not well-understood. By using synchrotron-based nano-X-ray fluorescence and complementary measurements, we show that when adding RbI and/or CsI the halide distribution becomes homogenous. This homogenization translates into long-lived charge carrier decays, spatially homogenous carrier dynamics visualized by ultrafast microscopy, as well as improved photovoltaic device performance. We find that Rb and K phase-segregate in highly concentrated aggregates. Synchrotron-based X-ray-beam-induced current and electron-beam-induced current of solar cells show that Rb clusters do not contribute to the current and are recombination active. Our findings bring light to the beneficial effects of alkali metal halides in perovskites, and point at areas of weakness in the elemental composition of these complex perovskites, paving the way to improved performance in this rapidly growing family of materials for solar cell applications.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2007

X-ray Microdiffraction Images of Antiferromagnetic Domain Evolution in Chromium

Magnetic x-ray diffraction combined with x-ray focusing optics is used to image individual antiferromagnetic spin density wave domains in a chromium single crystal at the micron scale. The cross section for non-resonant magnetic x-ray scattering depends on the antiferromagnetic modulation vector and spin polarization direction and allows these quantities to be extracted independently. The technique is used to show that the broadening of the nominally first order "spin-flip" transition at 123 K, at which the spins rotate by 90 deg., originates at the walls between domains with orthogonal modulation vectors. During cooling the transition begins at these walls and progresses inwards. The modulation-vector domains are themselves unchanged.

cond-mat.other↗