ctfExplorer is written by Maxim V. Sidorov
Please direct your comments, suggestions and bug reports to the e-mail
address below
ゥ 2000-2002, Max V. Sidorov
This software is e-postcard-ware/freeware.
If you use it, if you find it useful, please send me an e-mail
(
maxthebuilder@gmail.com).
CtfExplorer allows to calculate the Phase Contrast Transfer Function
(CTF): a useful characteristics in Electron Microscopy
Features
bullet Calculates 1-Dimensional CTF
bullet Calculates 2-Dimensional CTF
bullet Calculates Defocus Map
bullet Shows the effects of 2-Fold and 3-Fold astigmatism
bullet Allows to change Defocus, 2-Fold and 3-Fold astigmatism in real time
bullet Shows what happens to 1D CTF in different directions when there's
astigmatism
bullet Displays the damping envelopes
bullet Allows to select a microscope from a list of microscopes
bullet Allows to create a custom microscope
bullet Allows to change HT, Cs, Cc, Energy Spread, Convergence for any microscope
bullet 2 modes of operation: CTF Explorer (to see everything) and CTF Plotter
bullet Compares 2 microscopes or 2 settings for 1 microscope
bullet Saves 1D CTF, 2D CTF and "Defocus Map" as bitmaps or metafiles
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Added in 0.99b4 (30 November 2000)
bullet "Magnification" slider control. This is to show why it is
not a good idea to do HRTEM at x1,000,000 magnification and why
sometimes pictures taken at x200,000 look better than those taken at
x500,000
bullet Export of ctfExplorer 1-D plots to tab-delimited text format
bullet "Lichte defocus" is included to the list of the most
useful defoci
Service release
0.99b5 (18 August 2001)
bullet User interface improvements and other fixes
bullet Extended list of microscopes
Added in 0.99b6 (5 December 2001)
bullet Euro-bug removed. When installed on a computer with a Windows locale which uses a comma instead of a point as a decimal separator, ctfExplorer would rise an
exception when one selects a microscope from the list.
Now it's fixed but one must use a point '.' as the
decimal separator e.g. when editing a microscope. I.e. always write 1.3 instead of 1,3 etc.
Added in 0.999a (10 February 2002)
bullet Corrected
an error in the formula used for Focal Spread calculation which caused
too strong damping by temporal envelope at high frequencies.
Thanks to Michael O'Keefe, Peter Tiemeijer and Uwe Lucken for
pinpointing this.
bullet Added a posibility to change number for High Tension and Objective
Lens current instabilities (along with chromatic aberration and energy
spread they affect the value of focal spread).
bullet Added a possibility of editing/saving/restoring of the microscope
list.
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Installation package (~1.4 Mb)download.gif (1498 bytes)
- Download ctfExplorer-package.exe
and run it.
- That's it. A shortcut to ctfExplorer is placed to the top part of
Windows Start menu.
- If you ever want to uninstall: Windows Control Panel | Add/Remove | ctfExplorer.
- If you have problems accessing the help system then see below.
Note: ctfExplorer help system is designed in MS
HTML Help format which relies on Internet Explorer's layout engine for its
functionality. A full version of the browser should be installed on the end user's system.
Version 4.x (or higher) is recommended for full HTML Help functionality.
ctfExplorer will not function properly
(crashes on exit) without MS
HTML Help system installed.
If you have Internet Explorer 4.x (or higher) on your system but the ctfExplorer help still doesn't work (it should work fine under
Windows 98-2000) then try to:
Download
Hhupd.exe 1.32 (~700 KB). This version will work in all
supported languages.
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System Requirements
bullet Tested with Windows 95/98/NT4/2000/XP
bullet Recommended: at least 1024x768, High color display settings, looks better
with "Small Fonts" setting
bullet Reasonably fast computer. On my ancient AMD K6 350MHz with 64Mb RAM, 2d CTF
takes about 4 sec to calculate. Less than 1 sec on AMD Athlon 900MHz.
Doesn't take any time at all on Athlon 2600+
bullet MS Internet Explorer Version 4 (or higher) is recommended for HTML Help
functionality.