Patent · US Expired

Spectrophotometric image scrambler for full aperture microspectroscopy

US4712912A · kind A · utility

81Cited by
6References
25Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateMar 10, 1986
Grant dateDec 15, 1987
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 10, 2006

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01N2201/0806
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

The optical system of the present invention comtemplates directing a beam of radiant energy to either an aperture beam splitter or polarizing beam splitter. Radiant energy from the beam splitter forms a first remote image at an entrance to an image scrambler so that any image information which the beam contains is destroyed. The output of the scrambler fills the full aperture of a focusing objective that reproduces the image of the output of the scrambler onto a sample. A mask, positioned at a remote image between the output of the scrambler and focusing objective, determines the geometrical shape of the sample image. The focusing objective images the radiant energy that is reflected from the sample to a second remote image at the scrambler so that the scrambler destroys image information while retaining spectroscopic information. The beam splitter reflects a portion of the radiant energy from the scrambler to the detector. The absence of image information in the radiant energy from the sample reduces measurement errors by producing a predictable dispersion of radiant energy at the detector.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.