Glossary

alignment point

alignment points

Reference points used for re-coordination in laser control software. Typically three are used, and the more accurately they are determined in both software packages (Targeting and the laser control software) the more accurate the re-coordination. For ESL systems, an image is stored with the alignment point for reference when re-coordinating in AV2. The size of this image can be adjusted in the Properties Panel when the alignment point is selected in the Regions Panel.

AV2

ActiveView2

ActiveView2 (AV2) is the laser control software for Elemental Scientific Lasers.

base-name

pattern base-name

A base name for ablation patterns is used when automatically creating patterns to label each pattern. A numbered suffix is applied after the base-name. For example, using a base-name of “epidote” will create patterns with labels like “epidote_1”, “epidote_2”, etc).

buffer

When used with raster or lasso patterns, the buffer is how far (in µm) to extend the raster/lasso area beyond the targeted shape’s boundaries. For example, a buffer of 5 will extend the raster/lasso’s boundaries 5 µm outside the grain’s boundaries.

epsilon

The epsilon value is a shape simplification factor used when creating raster patterns using a flood fill process (such as finding grain boundaries from a grain’s centre point). For example, simplifying a six-pointed star shape would start to round off the star’s points, with increasing epsilon values eventually simplify the star to a circle.

LAX

LAX file

A file format for ActiveView2 (AV2) laser control software for Elemental Scientific Laser systems. The LAX file can include images, ablation patterns, and ablation metadata. After the ablation experiment has concluded, the LAX file can also include mass spec data and laser log files.

reference material

RM

A reference material. A material with known compositional properties that can be used to calibrate other analyses.

region

regions

An area where relative distances and angles remain the same after re-coordination. Typically it is a grain mount or thin section.