General Questions
Does 4pi provide installation for its Systems & Upgrades?
My SEM does not have easily accessible external scan controls. Can I still use 4pi's Digital Image Acquisition System?
What do I need to install a 4pi EDX/Imaging Upgrade on my microscope?
What does the Spectral Engine II include?
Does 4pi provide training for its systems?
Is there an upgrade path from the SEI or NuBus SEII to the PCI SEII?
Is there a way to use the NuBus cards with the PCI Macintoshes?
Will the 4pi system work in Macintosh clones?
Will the 4pi system work in the new G3 and G4 Macs made by Apple?
Will the 4pi system work with G3 or G4 upgrade cards?
Can the SEII PCI card be swapped between a Macintosh and a Windows machine?
Can the Spectral Engine II do WDS (Wavelength Dispersive Spectroscopy)?
Can the Spectral Engine II do direct writing (lithography)?
What else can the Spectral Engine II do?
Can I write my own applications that control the 4pi hardware?
Can I put more than one Spectral Engine II in a computer?
I have two electron microscopes.
Can I get one 4pi system and use it on both?
For its Systems and Upgrades, 4pi Analysis provides on-site installation to any location. On-site installation is a required purchase for EDX Systems and for Digital Imaging purchased for installation on an SEM that does not have an easily accessible external scan interface. Either 4pi or your EM service provider can help you determine if your SEM is equipped with the necessary external scan controls. Contact sales for prices.
| My SEM does not have easily accessible external scan controls. Can I still use 4pi's Digital Image Acquisition System? |
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To date, 4pi has not encountered an SEM that cannot be modified to accept its Digital Image Acquisition System. Either 4pi or your EM service provider can install the accessible external scan controls required by 4pi's imaging. The price of on-site installation can be quoted to include the installation of the required controls.
On-site installation is a required purchase for EDX systems and for Upgrades purchased for installation on an SEM that does not have an easily accessible external scan interface. Either 4pi or your EM service provider can install an accessible external scan interface. Upgrades are typically purchased installed in your choice of either a Windows-based PC or a Macintosh G4. For customers on a tight budget, with technical expertise, and an SEM with easily accessible external scan controls, 4pi will ship a "Hardware/Software Package". For such a package, you will need:
1a. For Macintosh users - an Apple Power Mac G3 or G4 with at least one free 12-inch PCI slot, running System 8.6 or later, and 128MB SDRAM for EDX or 256MB for digital imaging (with or without EDX).
1b. For Windows users - a Pentium-class computer with a Pentium-III or 4 processor; at least one free 12-inch PCI slot; running Windows 95B, 98SE, NT, 2000, or XP Pro OS; and 128MB SDRAM for EDX or 256MB SDRAM for digital imaging.
2. Application program. 4pi's Revolution, a general-purpose cross-platform application for digital image and x-ray spectrum acquisition, x-ray map collection, and x-ray analysis--both qualitative and quantitative.
2a. For Macintosh only, 4pi includes plug-ins with its driver for use with helper applications. For EDX, we supply a plug-in for use with DTSA (DeskTop Spectrum Analyzer); for digital imaging, we support any programs that can utilize Photoshop-compatible plug-ins, including NIH Image,
IPLab Spectrum, Fovea Pro and
Adobe Photoshop.
3. Scanning Electron Microscope or Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope with an accessible external scan interface. This external interface must include scan inputs and a video channel output, and may include inputs and outputs for external control, CRT blanking, and video playback. 4pi will help you determine whether any modifications must be performed on the microscope. These modifications can be performed by 4pi or by your service provider. 4pi's system can interface to many different electron microscopes. For detailed information, contact sales.
4. X-ray Detector, bias power supply, and pulse processor. 4pi's complete MCA/pulse processor systems and upgrades include the Gresham Titan pulse processor; however, our hardware can interface to many legacy pulse processors as well. Contact sales for detailed information.
5. Printer (we suggest 600-1200 dpi) if hardcopy output is desired.
1. Spectral Engine II (SEII) PCI board for plugging into the computer.
2. Pre-configured Scanning Interface Unit (SIU).
3. Cable to connect SEII and SIU.
4. Cable to connect SIU to microscope external interface (if necessary).
5. Cable to connect SIU to x-ray pulse processor (if necessary).
6. Software.
7. Manual.
Familiarization with the 4pi System or Upgrade is included with on-site installation. On request, 4pi will quote training fees. However, the operation of our software is relatively simple. The manual provides the information necessary for operation. In case questions remain, 4pi provides phone and e-mail support to help the customer operate the system. 4pi assumes that its customers understand the principles and limitations of imaging and/or x-ray microanalysis.
4pi provides discounts on new systems to replace an SEI, NuBus SEII, or PCI SEII 2.1. Contact sales for information.
There used to be a straightforward external 3rd-party NuBus chassis made by Second Wave; however, they claim to not make these any more. The only solution we know of is to find one used or at auction.
Apple long ago eliminated the licensing agreements it had with a number of clone manufacturers. Since all the clone manufacturers licensed the strict Apple design, clone machines should be identical to true-blue Macs; we are very familiar with Power Computing clones and they appear to be 100% compatible. Other clones with at least a 200MHz 604e processor should work. If you look around, you can get good deals on clone hardware. A number of our customers have Power Computing clones, and we have 5 Power Computing machines among the employees at 4pi. Specifically, the SEII PCI card is guaranteed to work in two of the best Macs Apple never made: Power Computing's PowerTower Pro 200/250 and PowerCenter Pro 210 machines.
Yes, the Spectral Engine II system is 100% compatible. It is possible that a software update will be required with each new processor or speed bump.
As a general rule, yes, the Spectral Engine II system is 100% compatible. It is possible that a software update will be required with each new processor or speed bump. We have tested both the PowerLogix and Newer Technology G3 upgrade cards and found that they both work very well with our system. Customers should be aware that numerous consumer complaints exist regarding the Newer Cards (check archives of Macintouch and MacFixIt for more information). Although we have less feedback than for PowerLogix or Newer, Sonnet upgrades appear to work fine as well.
As a general rule, yes, the Spectral Engine II PCI card can be used without modification in either a PowerMac or a Windows box; however, 4pi will not support this switch for any card already in the field except on a case-by-case basis, and then only if 4pi tech support is notified first.
In its full hardware configuration, the SEII can perform 4-channel WDS acquisition.
The SEII hardware is capable of performing direct writing of the electron beam in arbitrarily-defined patterns. Our new Revolution software will allow the SEII to perform direct writing functions as part of a 1.x update. Revolution 1.x will be available via several updates in the second half of 2000.
The SEII is a multiple-DSP-based (digital signal processor) board. In its full configuration, it performs the following functions:
2-channel, 500 kHz, 16-bit scanning control output.
4-channel, 10MHz, 12-bit ADC input.
4-channel TTL pulse counting.
Digital Pulse Height Analysis (PHA) on analog pulses.
4096-channel Multichannel Analysis (MCA).
Although it is specifically designed for applications involving digital imaging with scanning electron microscopes and energy- and wavelength-dispersive spectrometers, it can be adapted for other uses. Please refer to our technical description, including system-level integration, design, specifications, and software. Please contact sales to inquire about custom projects.
We are supportive of those who want to write their own applications. We can supply undocumented plug-in source-code modules for the Mac that provide examples of the available driver calls. The Revolution driver API may be licensed. Please note that 4pi does not have the resources to teach or extensively consult on writing programs or drivers. You must have programming experience. Please contact support to find out more.
Our drivers can support multiple cards but it is non-standard and requires special programming to achieve this functionality. If you require it, contact support for pricing and information.
Yes, but once you have the system Scanning Interface Unit (SIU) calibrated for one system, moving it to the other microscope will require recalibration. A better solution is to get one SEII and two SIUs. The calibration will then "stay" with the microscope.
SEM Questions
What microscopes can 4pi's Digital Imaging System interface to?
Can 4pi's Digital Imaging System acquire cathodoluminescence images?
Can 4pi's Digital Imaging System acquire EBIC images/linescans?
Can I "play back" an acquired image to the electron microscope's photo CRT to record it on film?
Can I save acquired images in a compressed format?
Does 4pi's Digital Imaging System include an image database program so I can organize my digital images?
Can my image acquisitions run in the background?
4pi's Digital Imaging System can interface to most SEMs, FESEMs, ESEMs, STEMs, and EMPAs. An externally accessible scan interface is required. If a scan interface is not present, the external scan coils must be accessible and on-site installation is a required purchase. 4pi has systems interfaced to numerous models made by the following manufacturers:
Amray
Cambridge Instruments
Cameca Instruments
CamScan
Electroscan
ETEC
FEI (Philips)
Fisons VG Microscopes
Hitach
ISI/Topcon
JEOL
LEO
Zeiss
Please contact sales if you need more information.
Yes, 4pi has a number of customers acquiring cathodoluminescence images side-by-side with digital images. To use the 4pi system to acquire signals from a cathodoluminescence system, the 4pi system must be configured with 4 video channels. Contact sales for price information.
4pi Revolution includes single-channel EBIC imaging and linescanning. Subsequent updates will expand this to multichannel capability. Please contact 4pi support for more information.
The 4pi system does not support playback because the procedure is susceptible to errors that can result in damaged CRTs. In addition, such a capability would create a significant software and hardware overhead in order to present the correct sync/blank signals to the CRT, which can vary greatly from microscope to microscope. If you need film results, we suggest using a dye-sublimation or other high-quality printer.
The plug-in default software settings save images as raw 8 or 16 bit TIFFs, thus maximizing software compatibility if you want to process them elsewhere; however, this is not the same as compression. If you want to compress the images, you can use your favorite compression technology after the acquisition. Revolution includes jpeg compression; we are currently evaluating other compression options for inclusion in Revolution.
A 3rd party application, such as Extensis Portfolio or another prepress database program can be bundled with a system. The price depends on the program requested. Companies in the image database business can create much better programs at much lower costs than we can.
Revolution has full background and multitasking capability while images are being acquired. Because of the way Photoshop-compatible acquisition plug-ins work, background image acquisition is not possible when using the Mac plug-ins.
EDX Questions
What pulse processors can be interfaced to the Spectral Engine II?
What are the connection details for my pulse processor?
Can the SEII interface to the newer digital EDX pulse processors?
Does 4pi make or sell a pulse processor or detector?
Is 4pi developing a pulse processor unlike any ever before?
Can I keep my old EDX system operational in parallel?
What is the status of DTSA?
Is there an alternative to DTSA?
Can my EDX acquisitions run in the background?
A wide variety of pulse processors can be interfaced to the Spectral Engine II, including the Kevex 44xx/45xx series, the Noran Instruments 125x and 2000 series, the Tennelec TC244, the Oxford 20x0 series, the Link XP3, and the PGT 34x series. The Spectral Engine II does not interface to the Tracor Noran 5500, but we can supply a new pulse processor that interfaces directly to the preamp on the existing 5500 detector. Contact sales for specific information about these or other pulse processors.
Connection details for selected 3rd party pulse processors. Contact support if you have questions.
For the Gresham Titan DXP, yes. We determine interface details from connection information that the pulse processor manufacturer makes public. We have no such information yet for any other digital EDX pulse processors, but if you can get the specific manufacturer to release the required interface information to us, we will gladly consider the details.
4pi Analysis incorporates detectors and pulse processors manufactured by Gresham Scientific Instruments into its systems and upgrades. Visit 4pi's products page or contact sales for more information. We can quote a system with an x-ray detector manufactured by any of the major detector companies.
Stay tuned :-)
The answer to this depends on your system, but usually the answer is "yes," with a couple of straightforward caveats. Contact support if you have a specific example in mind.
The current version of DTSA is native for Power Macintosh; older versions are available for 68k Macs. The program is no longer officially supported by NIST but can be downloaded for free. Please visit the DTSA web site for more information. DTSA v2.5.1 continues to work with the Spectral Engine II via our plug-ins.
Yes. 4pi's Revolution.
Revolution has full background and multitasking capability while spectra are being acquired. For EDX acquisitions with the DTSA plug-in, yes. For plug-in users doing imaging or x-ray mapping or WDS mapping acquisitions, no (this is because of the way acquisition plug-ins work under NIH Image or Adobe Photoshop).
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4pi Analysis, Inc. |
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site maintainer:
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last updated:
January 06, 2004
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