CHAMEO is a domain ontology designed to model the common aspects across the different characterisation methodologies.
Characterisation Methodology Ontology
CHAracterisation MEthodology Ontology
chameo
Contacts: Gerhard Goldbeck Goldbeck Consulting Ltd (UK) email: gerhard@goldbeck-consulting.com
Describes what is needed to repeat the experiment
In case of national or international facilities such as synchrotrons describe the programme that enabled you to access these.
Was the access to your characterisation tool an inhouse routine or required a 3rd party service?
Was the access to your sample preparation an inhouse routine or required a 3rd party service?
AccessConditions
Calibration data are used to provide correction of measured data or perform uncertainty calculations. They are generally the result of a measuerement on a reference specimen.
CalibrationData
Post-processing of the output of the calibration in order to get the actual calibration data to be used as input for the measurement.
CalibrationDataPost-Processing
Sequence of operations/actions that are needed to convert the initial signal (as produced by the detector) into a meaningful and useable raw data.
In nanoindentation, the electrical signal coming from capacitive displacement gauge is converted into a real raw-displacement signal after using a proper calibration function (as obtained by the equipment manufacturer). Then, additional calibration procedures are applied to define the point of initial contact and to correct for instrument compliance, thermal drift, and indenter area function to obtain the real useable displacement data.
Within this workflow, a possible way is to use a reference sample (with pre-defined, specific, and stable physical characteristics and known properties) for the interaction with the measurement probe, in order to extract characterization data that will be compared to predefined values. In this way, the accuracy of the measurement tool and its components (for example the probe) will be evaluated and confirmed.
CalibrationMeasurement
Medium of the characterisation experiment defined by the set of environmental conditions that are controlled and measured over time during the experiment.
Characterisation can either be made in air (ambient conditions, without specific controls on environmental parameters), or at different temperatures, different pressures (or in vacuum), or using different types of working gases (inert or reactive with respect to sample), different levels of humidity, etc.
CharacterisationEnvironment
The device used to calculate the material's characterisation properties. It has the detector as part.
CharacterisationMachine
Characterisation method is the combination of the stages and sub-methods that are necessary to obtain a measured material structure/property.
CharacterisationMethod
The characterisation property is the investigate property or behaviour of a specimen. It is derived from the secondary data, usually after classification or quantification (manually of by a model).
CharacterisationProperty
The whole system used for characterising a material, which has the probe and the characterisation machine as parts.
CharacterisationSystem
Describes why the characterization method was chosen and deemed to be the most useful for the sample.
CharacterisationValidation
Quantify the raw data acquisition rate, if applicable.
DataAcquisitionRate
Data filtering is the process of examining a dataset to exclude, rearrange, or apportion data according to certain criteria.
DataFiltering
Data normalization involves adjusting raw data to a notionally common scale.
It involves the creation of shifted and/or scaled versions of the values to allow post-processing in a way that eliminates the effects of influences on subsequent properties extraction.
DataNormalization
Analysis, that allows one to calculate the final material property from the calibrated primary data.
DataPost-Processing
Data preparation is the process of manipulating (or pre-processing) data (which may come from disparate data sources) to improve their quality
DataPreparation
Describes how raw data are corrected and/or modified through calibrations.
DataProcessingThroughCalibration
Evaluation of quality indicators to determine how well suited a data set is to be used for the characterisation of a material.
Example evaluation of S/N ratio, or other quality indicators (limits of detection/quantification, statistical analysis of data, data robustness analysis)
DataQuality
Physical device (or the chain of devices) that is used to measure, quantify and store the signal after its interaction with the sample.
Back Scattered Electrons (BSE) and Secondary Electrons (SE) detectors for SEM
Displacement and force sensors for mechanical testing
Detector
Set of inherent properties of a substance, mixture of substances, or a process involving substances that, under production, usage, or disposal conditions, make it capable of causing adverse effects to organisms or the environment, depending on the degree of exposure; in other words, it is a source of danger.
Hazard
An object which supports the specimen in the correct position for the characterisation process.
Holder
The volume of material, and the surrounding environment, that interacts with the probe and generate a detectable (measurable) signal (information).
In Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), the interaction volume is the volume of material that interacts directly with the incident electron beam, is usually much smaller than the entire specimen’s volume, and can be computed by using proper models. The interaction between the scanning probe and the sample generates a series of detectable signals (back scattered electrons, secondary electrons, x-rays, specimen current, etc.) which contain information on sample morphology, microstructure, composition, etc.
In x-ray diffraction, the interaction volume is the volume of material that interacts directly with the x-ray beam and is usually smaller than the volume of the entire specimen. Depending on sample’s structure and microstructure, the interaction between the sample and the x-ray incident beam generates a secondary (reflected) beam that is measured by a detector and contains information on certain sample’s properties (e.g., crystallographic structure, phase composition, grain size, residual stress, …).
In some cases, (like tribological characterisations) the “sample” can also be the “probe”. When analysing a system of samples that interact each other, finding a clear definition can become a complex problem.
It is important to note that, in some cases, the volume of interaction could be different from the volume of detectable signal emission. Example: in Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), the volume of interaction between the electron probe and the material is different from the volumes that generate the captured signal.
InteractionVolume
Describes the level of automation of the test.
LevelOfAutomation
Describes the level of expertise required to carry out a process (the entire test or the data processing).
LevelOfExpertise
Application of a post-processing model to signals through a software, in order to calculate the final characterisation property.
Analysis of SEM (or optical) images to gain additional information (image filtering/integration/averaging, microstructural analysis, grain size evaluation, Digital Image Correlation procedures, etc.)
In nanoindentation testing, this is the Oliver-Pharr method, which allows calculating the elastic modulus and hardness of the sample by using the load and depth measured signals.
MeasurementDataPost-Processing
Describes the main input parameters that are needed to acquire the signal
MeasurementParameter
The measurement process associates raw data to the specimen through a probe and a detector.
MeasurementProcess
Quantifies the time needed for the measurement data acquisition
MeasurementTime
Set of physics principles (and associated governing equations) that describes the interaction between the sample and the probe.
In x-ray diffraction, this is represented by the set of physics equations that describe the relation between the incident x-ray beam and the diffracted beam (the most simple form for this being the Bragg’s law).
A characteristic “interaction” volume is usually associated to the process of sample/probe interaction.
PhysicsOfInteraction
Mathematical model used to process primary data in order to obtain secondary data
Post-ProcessingModel
Data resulting of a pre-processing of raw data, applying corrections to normalize/harmonize, in order to prepare them for the post-processing.
Baseline subtraction
Noise reduction
X and Y axes correction
PrimaryData
Probe is the physical tool (i.e., a disturbance, primary solicitation, or a gadget), controlled over time, that generates measurable fields that interact with the specimen to acquire information on the specimen’s behaviour and properties.
In dynamic light scattering, temporal fluctuations of backscattered light due to Brownian motion and flow of nanoparticles are the probe, resolved as function of pathlength in the sample. From fluctuation analysis (intensity correlations) and the wavelength of light in the medium, the (distribution of) diffusion coefficient(s) can be measured during flow. The Stokes-Einstein relation yields the particle size characteristics.
In electron microscopy (SEM or TEM), the probe is a beam of electrons with known energy that is focused (and scanned) on the sample’s surface with a well-defined beam-size and scanning algorithm.
In mechanical testing, the probe is a force actuator that is designed to apply a force over-time on a sample. Many variants can be defined depending on way the force is applied (tensile/compressive uniaxial tests, bending test, indentation test) and its variation with time (static tests, dynamic/cyclic tests, impact tests, etc…)
In spectroscopic methods, the probe is a beam of light with pre-defined energy (for example in the case of laser beam for Raman measurements) or pre-defined polarization (for example in the case of light beam for Spectroscopic Ellipsometry methods), that will be properly focused on the sample’s surface with a welldefined geometry (specific angle of incidence).
In x-ray diffraction, the probe is a beam of x-rays with known energy that is properly focused on the sample’s surface with a well-defined geometry
Probe
Process representing the interaction between the Probe and the Specimen (with a certain Interaction Volume) which generates a Signal
Probe-SpecimenInteraction
Description of performed statistical analysis to check for data reproducibility (e.g. easily reproducible for everyone, reproducible for a domain expert, reproducible only for Data processing Expert)
ProcessingReproducibility
Direct output of the equipment with the manufacturer’s software including automatic pre-processing that is not modified by the user once the acquisition method is defined and the equipment calibrated.
The raw data is a set of (unprocessed) data that is given directly as output from the detector, usually expressed as a function of time or position, or photon energy.
In mechanical testing, the raw data are the raw-force and raw-displacement, as function of time.
In spectroscopic testing, the raw data are light intensity, or refractive index, or optical absorption as a function of the energy (or wavelength) of the incident light beam.
In some cases, raw data can be considered to have already some level of data processing, e.g., in electron microscopy a “raw image” that is formed on the screen is already result from multiple processing after the signal is acquired by the detector.
RawData
Quality control sample used to determine accuracy and precision of method. [ISO 17858:2007]
Material, sufficiently homogeneous and stable with respect to one or more specified properties, which has been established to be fit for its intended use in a measurement process”.
Certified Reference Material
Reference material
ReferenceSpecimen
Portion of material selected from a larger quantity of material. The term needs to be qualified, e.g., bulk sample, representative sample, primary sample, bulked sample, test sample, etc. The term 'sample' implies the existence of a sampling error, i.e., the results obtained on the portions taken are only estimates of the concentration of a constituent or the quantity of a property present in the parent material. If there is no or negligible sampling error, the portion removed is a test portion, aliquot, or specimen.
Sample
Act of extracting a portion (amount) of material from a larger quantity of material. This operation results in obtaining a sample representative of the batch with respect to the property or properties being investigated.
The term can be used to cover either a unit of supply or a portion for analysis. The portion taken may consist of one or more sub-samples and the batch may be the population from which the sample is taken.
SamplingProcess
Data resulting from the application of post-processing or model generation to other data.
Deconvoluted curves
Intensity maps
Elaborated data
SecondaryData
According to UPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, a “signal” is “A representation of a quantity within an analytical instrument” (https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/S05661 ).
Result (effect) of the interaction between the sample and the probe, which usually is a measurable and quantifiable quantity.
Signal is usually emitted from a characteristic “emission” volume, which can be different from the sample/probe “interaction” volume and can be usually quantified using proper physics equations and/or modelling of the interaction mechanisms.
Signal
Portion taken under conditions such that the sampling variability cannot be assessed (usually because the population is changing), and is assumed, for convenience, to be zero.
Specimen
Specimen preparation processes (e.g., machining, polishing, cutting to size, etc.) before actual observation and measurement.
SpecimenPreparation
The operator carrying on the whole characterisation process or sub-processes/stages.
User
Data processing activities performed on the secondary data to determine the characterisation property (e.g. classification, quantification), which can be performed manually or exploiting a model.
Data Analysis
DataAnalysis
Analysis of the Specimen in order to determine information that are relevant for the characterisation method.
In the Nanoindentation method the Scanning Electron Microscope to determine the indentation area.
Specimen Inspection
SpecimenInspection
Procedures to validate the characterisation data.
Validation
An identifier that is used to uniquely identifies a resource.
ResourceIdentifier