Spectroscope with spatial resolution control

US7456950B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• THERMO ELECTRON SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS LLC · US

Inventors

• Francis J. Deck · London, US
• John Magie Coffin · Blue Mounds, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Aug 28, 2007
• Grant date: Nov 25, 2008
• Expiry date: Aug 28, 2027

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01J3/0262
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

In a spectrometer, preferably in a spectrometric microscope, light from a specimen is collected at a collector objective element and delivered to a camera element, which in turn provides the light to a photosensitive detector. A focal plane is provided between the collector objective element and the camera element, and one or more aperture arrays may be situated in the focal plane to restrict the detector's field of view of the specimen to the areas within the apertures. By utilizing aperture arrays with apertures of different sizes and shapes, the spatial resolution of the spectrometer readings may be varied without the need to vary the optics of the spectrometer. As a result, if the optics are optimized to minimize vignetting, spatial resolution may be varied without adverse increases in vignetting.