Particle counter with strip laser diode
US6859277B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 27, 2002 |
| Grant date | Feb 22, 2005 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 20, 2023 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01N2015/1486
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A fluid particle counter comprising an inlet jet tip producing an air flow, a strip laser diode producing a laser beam, and a beam shaping system that includes an aspheric collimating lens, an achromatic spherical lens, a cylinder lens, and a series of cascading apertures. A retarder rotates the polarization so that the TE mode is along the direction of fluid flow. The optical system is designed so that along the flow axis the laser beam is single mode, while the multimodes due to the strip laser are constrained to the dimension perpendicular to the flow. The beam is pinched to a 35 micron waist and has a Gaussian profile along the flow direction which permits locating the beam within 3.5 mm of the flow tip while preventing stray light scattering from the tip. The beam profile along the axis perpendicular to the flow is closer to a square wave than a Gaussian. The particle counter output is substantially free of all noise except noise created by light scattered from molecules of the fluid, even for volumetric particle counters.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.