Stylus device

For the upper end of the thickness range which we will consider, mechanical measurement of thickness using one of the commercially available stylus devices can provide valuable information. 

Ellipsometry is suitable for the measurement of films whose thickness is much less than the wavelength of light. The thickness measurement of films having hundreds of molecular layers is best carried out using a stylus device such as the Talystep. Here a groove is scribed in the film and the stylus measures the depth of this groove. In the case of very soft materials, the film can be coated with a metallic layer having a thickness of about 20 nm which is deposited in vacuo after the line has been scribed. 

Pit depth should be determined, if a stylus device or a calibrated microscope stage is available. 

An increasingly important tool to determine the strain-induced anisotropy is MOKE (magneto-optical Kerr effect). In section 2 we mentioned already the calculations by Freeman et al. (1999). Experimentally, e.g. Ali and Watts (1999) (see also references therein) apply a bending device to induce strains in a controlled way, and determine the (local) curvature and the strains by optical interferometry or by direct measurement (stylus). The properties of the substrate are incorporated in a finite-element modelling calculation, thus allowing an absolute determination of the film properties. Compare also Stobiecki et al. (2000), who studied the strain induced anisotropy in FeB/Cu/FeB trilayers, using Kerr magnetometry (MOKE). 

The tablet is a small digitizer, perhaps fourteen inches on a side. Using either a stylus or cursor, it can feed back coordinates (within a fixed frame of reference, thus it is an absolute positioning device) to the machine which can be used to select a point of interest or enter data by tracing a curve. Those coordinates must be interpreted by software in terms of the screen coordinate system since is it unlikely that they will match. 

More recent advances in technology made possible by the personal digital assistant (PDA) have allowed physicians to electronically prescribe at the point of care. PDAs are handheld computers that typically run using a Windows- or other proprietary-based platforms. These PDAs use a touch-sensitive screen to maneuver through a menu-driven prescribing process that can execute a prescription in as little as three stylus taps. - The PDAs or other proprietary devices then upload the prescription via a network connection or modem to be printed, faxed, or electronically transmitted to a pharmacy. 

The MIME (Mirror Image Movemeru Enhancer) arm rehabilitator incorporates a PUMA 560 industrial robot arm to manipulate the patient s arm (Fig. 35.2) This device can move the patient s arm in three-dimensional space. For hemiparetic patients, the motion of the patient s unimpaired arm can be tracked with a mechanical digitizing stylus, and that motion can be used to control the trajectory of the impaired arm. 

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