An ion beam analysis software based on ImageJ

Abstract

The suit of techniques (RBS, STIM, ERDS, PIXE, IL, IF,...) available in ion beam analysis yields a variety of rich information. Typically, after the initial challenge of acquiring data we are then faced with the task of having to extract relevant information or to present the data in a format with the greatest impact. This process sometimes requires developing new software tools. When faced with such situations the usual practice at the Centre for Ion Beam Applications (CIBA) in Singapore has been to use our computational expertise to develop ad hoc software tools as and when we need them. It then became apparent that the whole ion beam community can benefit from such tools; specifically from a common software toolset that can be developed and maintained by everyone with freedom to use and allowance to modify. In addition to the benefits of readymade tools and sharing the onus of development, this also opens up the possibility for collaborators to access and analyse ion beam data without having to depend on an ion beam lab. This has the virtue of making the ion beam techniques more accessible to a broader scientific community. We have identified ImageJ as an appropriate software base to develop such a common toolset. In addition to being in the public domain and been setup for collaborative tool development, ImageJ is accompanied by hundreds of modules (plugins) that allow great breadth in analysis. The present work is the first step towards integrating ion beam analysis into ImageJ. Some of the features of the current version of the ImageJ 'ion beam' plugin are: (1) reading list mode or event-by-event files, (2) energy gates/sorts, (3) sort stacks, (4) colour function, (5) real time map updating, (6) real time colour updating and (7) median & average map creation. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.