Herein we propose a polarimetric imaging system that uses a microgrid polarizer placed on the conjugate point of two telecentric optical paths, matching large polarizers with small sensors and thus effectively decreasing optical crosstalk and increasing imaging accuracy. We define a new parameter used to construct the high-precision polarization vector transfer model under crosstalk. Using the equivalent surface of the detector, we establish the relationship between focal shift and crosstalk ratio and obtain a multi-physical coupling mathematical model that accounts for the crosstalk ratio, extinction ratio, sensor error, target vector, and imaging accuracy of the system. The relayed-microgrid polarimetric imaging system is anticipated to be able to help identify objects of interest for remote sensing and military applications.The normal form of a depolarizing Mueller matrix constitutes an important tool for the phenomenological interpretation of experimental polarimetric data. Due to its structure as a serial combination of three Mueller matrices, namely a canonical depolarizing Mueller matrix sandwiched between two pure (nondepolarizing) Mueller matrices, it overcomes the necessity of making a priori choices on the order of the polarimetric components, as this occurs in other serial decompositions. Because Mueller polarimetry addresses more and more applications in a wide range of areas in science, engineering, medicine, etc., the normal form decomposition has an enormous potential for the analysis of experimentally determined Mueller matrices. However, its systematic use has been limited to some extent because of the lack of numerical procedure for the calculation of each polarimetric component, in particular in the case of Type II Mueller matrices. In this work, an efficient algorithm applicable to the decomposition of both Type II and Type I Mueller matrices is presented.In this paper, a method for measuring the synchronization error of high-precision dual parallel motion stages is presented. The method is based on a full-field measurement using two-dimensional digital image correlation (DIC) technology. Its outstanding advantage is that it allows users to take measurements in a reliable plane-to-plane manner. Combined with a digital microscope, the resolution of the measurement can reach micrometer level. The method also provides a measure of parallelism error between the stages, used to compensate for the initially measured synchronization error results. In order to demonstrate the method's capabilities, a test case was carried out. In addition, the results obtained through DIC were statistically analyzed to improve their reliability. The final results indicated that this method is successful in the characterization of the position synchronization error.Implementation of an alkali-metal spin maser in magnetic induction tomography is explored. While the spin maser vastly improves the detection speed and solves the problem of imperfect bias magnetic field stabilization in non-destructive testing, it provides only partial information about the spatial extent of the defect. We demonstrate two ways in which the whole image of the defect can be reconstructed and experimentally demonstrate that the amplitude of the spin maser signal can be used as an indicator of defect depth. Additionally, the spatial extent of the imaging of the defect is increased by the application of a spin maser operating at two frequencies. A significant benefit of operating in the spin maser mode is that the system follows any fluctuations in the Larmor frequency due to changes in the bias magnetic field strength. This removes the need for active stabilization of the bias magnetic field, greatly reducing the complexity of the system.X-ray phase-contrast techniques are powerful methods for discerning features with similar densities, which are normally indistinguishable with conventional absorption contrast. While these techniques are well-established tools at large-scale synchrotron facilities, efforts have increasingly focused on implementations at laboratory sources for widespread use. X-ray speckle-based imaging is one of the phase-contrast techniques with high potential for translation to conventional x-ray systems. click here It yields phase-contrast, transmission, and dark-field images with high sensitivity using a relatively simple and cost-effective setup tolerant to divergent and polychromatic beams. Recently, we have introduced the unified modulated pattern analysis (UMPA) [Phys. Rev. Lett.118, 203903 (2017)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.118.203903], which further simplifies the translation of x-ray speckle-based imaging to low-brilliance sources. Here, we present the proof-of-principle implementation of UMPA speckle-based imaging at a microfocus liquid-metal-jet x-ray laboratory source.As an angle measuring instrument, the traditional autocollimator has the ability to measure the two-degree-of-freedom angles, namely, pitch and yaw, but fails to measure the roll angle. In this study, we propose a novel autocollimator that can simultaneously measure the three-degree-of-freedom (3-DOF) angles. As a key component, a combined target reflector (CTR) is meticulously designed to split the collimated laser beam into two beams. The 3-DOF angle measurement is achieved by sensing the displacements of the two beam spots reflected from the CTR. The measurement principle and simulation analysis are presented in detail. Experiments are conducted to assess the performance of the proposed autocollimator, and the results indicate that it has an accuracy of better than 0.74 arcsec over a range of $ \pm 200\,\,\rm arcsec$±200arcsec, and it can be used for 3-DOF angular motion error measurement of a precision displacement stage.Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) was applied to rapidly detect elements in flowback water samples from shale gas wells in Oklahoma. Two types of LIBS systems (aerosolization and collection on a substrate) were used. The LIBS with an aerosolization system provided rapid determination of elements in flowback water, but moisture present in the chamber and variation in the water droplet size could make quantification difficult. In the substrate collection system, a comparison among substrate types showed that a hydrophilic cellulose filter gave the most homogeneous sample distribution after drying and provided the best performance. The elements in flowback water samples were also determined by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). ICP-OES data showed spatial variations for the elements among the different wells. Among the elements, K showed the highest variation (relative standard $\rm deviation = 62.8\% $deviation=62.8%) and Mg the lowest (relative standard $\rm deviation = 39.