Methods and apparatus for polarized reflectance spectroscopy

US6639674B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• The Board of Regents of the University of Texas System · US

Inventors

• Konstantin Sokolov · Austin, US
• Rebekah Drezek · Spring, US
• Urs Utzinger · Tucson, US
• Rebecca Richards-Kortum · Austin, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Mar 28, 2001
• Grant date: Oct 28, 2003
• Expiry date: Apr 2, 2021

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01N21/21
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for assessing the size of a scattering element of a sample. Primary radiation is generated from a source. The primary radiation is polarized to produce polarized primary radiation. The polarized primary radiation is directed to the sample to generate reflected radiation. The reflected radiation is directed through a polarizer to produce filtered reflected radiation, the polarizer being configured to select reflected radiation parallel and perpendicular to the polarization of the polarized primary radiation. The filtered radiation is detected, and a depolarization ratio is calculated using the detected filtered radiation. The size of the scattering element is calculated using the depolarization ratio.