Data type | Example Image | Formula | Application | Has a time-dynamic equivalent ("series of ..." ) | Instrument |
---|
Profile | | z = f ( x ) {\displaystyle z=f(x)} | | Yes | stylus 2D profilometer. |
Parametric profile | | ( x , z ) = f ( t ) {\displaystyle (x,z)=f(t)} | "Contour": Form analysis in 2D | No | Contour instruments |
Surface | | z = f ( x , y ) {\displaystyle z=f(x,y)} | Surface Topography | Yes | Optical or contact 3D profilometer |
Shell | | | Analysis of Free Form Surfaces | No | Multiple axis profilometers, tomographs |
Point clouds | | | Import of non-meshed shells and surfaces | No | Scanning devices |
True color image | | ( R , G , B ) = f ( x , y ) {\displaystyle (R,G,B)=f(x,y)} | True color or gray-level image | Yes | Scanning Electron Microscope, Light microscope, simple camera |
Surface-image | | ( Z , R , G , B ) = f ( x , y ) {\displaystyle (Z,R,G,B)=f(x,y)} | Topography and true color image | No | optical profilometer providing the topography with the image |
Multi-channel image | | ( i 1 , i 2 , . . . , i n ) = f ( x , y ) {\displaystyle (i1,i2,...,in)=f(x,y)} | | No | Atomic force microscope, spectrum analyzer, correlative imaging using heterogeneous sources |
Multi-channel cube | | ( i 1 , i 2 , . . . , i n ) = f ( x , y , z ) {\displaystyle (i1,i2,...,in)=f(x,y,z)} | | No | FIB-SEM, Confocal-Raman tomography |
Force curves | | | | Yes | Atomic force microscopes |
Spectrum | | | ( i ) = f ( l a m b d a ) {\displaystyle (i)=f(lambda)} | Yes | Spectrometer |
Hyperspectral image | | | i = f ( x , y , l a m b d a ) {\displaystyle i=f(x,y,lambda)} | No | X-Y scanning spectrometer, hyperspectral camera, SEM/EDX, Raman, Cathodoluminescence... |