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Aberrations in confocal spectroscopy of polymeric materials: Erroneous thicknesses and intensities, and loss of resolution
Author(s) -
Michielsen Stephen
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.1597
Subject(s) - resolution (logic) , optics , characterization (materials science) , raman spectroscopy , confocal , materials science , microscopy , spherical aberration , refractive index , microscope , confocal microscopy , spectroscopy , image resolution , physics , computer science , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , lens (geology)
Abstract Confocal fluorescence and Raman microscopy are becoming important characterization methods in polymers, especially for blends and films. However, caution must be used in analyzing the data because of the spherical aberration introduced into the illumination and collection of light caused by a mismatch in the indices of refraction of the sample and the design of the microscope objective. In many cases, the measured shape of the region under examination and the measured intensities are rendered invalid because of this aberration. Simultaneously, the axial resolution is degraded because the central light rays and the extreme rays have different focal points. It is shown that the loss of axial resolution can be minimized and the loss in intensity can be either reduced or accounted for. The error in location within the sample and, hence, the shape can be easily corrected. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 81: 1662–1669, 2001