Luminous intensity sensor element and light beam modulating method and device employing such a sensor element

US6414782B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• THE EUROPEAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMUNITY (EURATOM) · DE

Inventors

• Maurice Whelan · Borgomanero, IT
• Robert P. Kenny · Verbania, IT
• John Sheridan · San Diego, US
• Alfredo C. Lucia · Osmate, IT

Key dates

• Filing date: May 15, 2000
• Grant date: Jul 2, 2002
• Expiry date: May 15, 2020

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01J5/38
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A luminous intensity sensor element having a flat disk-shaped element (2) made of material with a high thermal expansion coefficient and of low thermal conductivity, and in turn having, on opposite faces (3, 5), an optically absorbent layer (4) and a reflecting layer (6). On receiving excitation radiation (R), the optically absorbent layer (4) is heated and transmits heat to the flat disk-shaped (2), which in turn is heated internally in spatially nonuniform manner and is deformed together with the superimposed reflecting layer (6). The reflecting layer (6) receives an incident reference layer beam (S) to generate a reflected light beam having optical characteristics (&Dgr;&phgr;) depending on the aforementioned deformation (&Dgr;d) and varying in response to the excitation radiation.