Characterizing a sample by material basis decomposition

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11808565-B2
Application number	US-202117185092-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 25, 2021
Priority date	Jun 15, 2015
Publication date	Nov 7, 2023
Grant date	Nov 7, 2023

Abstract

A method is provided for characterizing a sample, by estimating a plurality of characteristic thicknesses, each being associated with a calibration material. The method includes acquiring an energy spectrum transmitted through the sample, located in an X and/or gamma spectral band; for each spectrum of a plurality of calibration spectra, calculating a likelihood from said calibration spectrum, and from the spectrum transmitted through the sample, each calibration spectrum corresponding to the energy spectrum transmitted through a stack of gauge blocks, each formed of a known thickness of a calibration material; and estimating the characteristic thicknesses associated with the sample according to the criterion of maximum likelihood.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for improving accuracy of a characterization of a sample by material basis decomposition, the method comprising:
acquiring, by circuitry comprising a memory and a detector connected to a processor, a spectrum transmitted through the sample, said spectrum being an energy spectrum defined by a number of photons transmitted through the sample in each channel of a plurality of energy channels located in an X spectral band and/or a gamma spectral band;
acquiring, by said memory, plural calibration spectra, wherein each of the calibration spectra corresponds to a calibration spectrum transmitted through a stack including plural gauge blocks, each gauge block of the stack including a different calibration material so that the stack includes plural calibration materials having respective thicknesses, each calibration spectrum of the plural calibration spectra corresponding to a respective stack including a different set of the respective thicknesses compared to other stacks corresponding to other calibration spectra of the plural calibration spectra;
calculating, by said circuitry, values of a likelihood function from said acquired calibration spectra and the acquired spectrum transmitted through the sample;
determining, by said circuitry, a maximum likelihood value from among the calculated values of the likelihood function, the determined maximum likelihood value corresponding to a particular acquired calibration spectrum being most similar to the acquired spectrum transmitted through the sample; and
outputting, from the circuitry, a plurality of estimated characteristic thicknesses, each of the outputted estimated characteristic thicknesses being associated with a different respective calibration material, from the stack of gauge blocks of the particular acquired calibration spectrum corresponding to said determined maximum likelihood value.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said outputting step further comprises searching for the maximum likelihood value from among the calculated values of the likelihood function, thicknesses associated with the maximum likelihood value from among the calculated values of the likelihood function forming the plurality of estimated characteristic thicknesses.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising interpolating the calculated values of the likelihood function or interpolating the calibration spectrum.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the step of interpolating implements a non-linear interpolation function.

5. The method according to claim 3 , further comprising:
interpolating the calculated values of the likelihood function by a likelihood interpolation function depending on at least one variable, each of said at least one variable corresponding to a thickness of one of the calibration materials; and
searching for a maximum among calculated values of said likelihood interpolation function, thicknesses associated with said maximum among the calculated values of the likelihood interpolation function forming the plurality of estimated characteristic thicknesses.

6. The method according to claim 3 , further comprising:
interpolating the calibration spectrum by a spectrum interpolation function depending on at least one variable, each of said at least one variable corresponding to a respective thickness of one of the calibration materials; and
searching for a maximum among calculated values of said spectrum interpolation function, thicknesses associated with said maximum among the calculated values of the spectrum interpolation function forming the plurality of estimated characteristic thicknesses.

7. The method according to claim 3 , further comprising:
interpolating the calculated values of the likelihood function by a likelihood interpolation function, said calculated values being associated with combinations of predetermined thicknesses of respective calibration materials, such that for each respective calibration material, a corresponding set of thicknesses is located within a first interval associated with the respective calibration material;
searching for a first maximum among calculated values of said likelihood interpolation function, thicknesses associated with said first maximum among the calculated values of the likelihood interpolation function forming approximate values of the plurality of estimated characteristic thicknesses;
interpolating the calibration spectrum by a spectrum interpolation function depending on at least one variable, said at least one variable corresponding to a thickness of said each calibration material, and taking values located within a second respective interval, narrower than the first interval associated with the respective calibration material and centered on an approximate value of said approximate values; and
for each value of said spectrum interpolation function, calculating a particular value of the likelihood function and searching for a second maximum among said calculated particular values of the likelihood function, thicknesses associated with the second maximum among the calculated particular values of the likelihood function for each value of the spectrum interpolation function forming the plurality of estimated characteristic thicknesses.

8. The method according to claim 3 , further comprising:
interpolating the calibration spectrum by a spectrum interpolation function, said calibration spectrum being associated with combinations of predetermined thicknesses of respective calibration materials, such that for each respective calibration material, a corresponding set of thicknesses is located within a first interval associated with the respective calibration material;
for each value of said spectrum interpolation function, calculating a value of the likelihood function and searching for a maximum among said calculated values of the likelihood function, thicknesses associated with the maximum among the calculated values of the likelihood function, for each value of the spectrum interpolation function, forming approximate values of the plurality of estimated characteristic thicknesses of the calibration materials;
interpolating the calculated values of the likelihood function by a likelihood interpolation function depending on at least one variable, each of said at least one variable corresponding to a thickness of said each calibration material, and taking values located within a second respective interval, narrower than the first interval, associated with the respective calibration material and centered on one of said approximate values of the plurality of estimated characteristic thicknesses of the respective calibration material; and
searching for a maximum among calculated values of said likelihood interpolation function, thicknesses associated with said maximum among the calculated values of the likelihood interpolation function forming the estimated characteristic thicknesses.

9. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising determining the likelihood function from a statistical modelling of the spectrum transmitted through the sample, according to a Poisson distribution.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the likelihood function calculated from said calibration spectrum and from the spectrum transmitted through the sample, is defined by:

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Assignees

• Commissariat Energie Atomique

Inventors

• Brambilla Andrea
• Gorecki Alexia
• POTOP Alexandra

Classifications

• G01B15/02 Primary

  for measuring thickness · CPC title

• G01N23/02

  by transmitting the radiation through the material · CPC title

• G01N23/087 Primary

  using polyenergetic X-rays · CPC title

• G01N2223/03

  by transmission · CPC title

• G01N2223/302

  comparative arrangements · CPC title