Highly directional optical system and optical sectional image forming apparatus employing the same
US5231464A · kind A · utility
Assignees
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 21, 1991 |
| Grant date | Jul 27, 1993 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 21, 2011 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01N2201/08
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A light propagation region is divided into a plurality of subregions, each subregion being limited within a minimum spatial resolution unit where an interference occurs between discrete points, and a 0-order diffraction pattern of a Fraunhofer diffraction image is detected If a convex lens and either a pinhole or an optical fiber which is disposed on a focal plane of the convex lens are employed and the diameter of the pinhole or the core diameter of the optical fiber is set to be not greater than the first dark ring of a Fraunhofer diffraction image produced by the convex lens, it is possible to take out the greater part of the energy of a plane wave component that enters the lens from a predetermined direction and remove other components from different directions, i.e., scattering component. If a plurality of optical systems of this type are bundled together, only a plane wave with a one- or two-dimensional intensity distribution can be taken out with high brightness and high resolving power. Since the scattering component attenuates and only an information light component carried by the plane wave can be detected, it is possible to obtain information about an absorber even when …
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.