Sensor and polarimetric filters for real-time extraction of polarimetric information at the focal plane
US7582857B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 18, 2006 |
| Grant date | Sep 1, 2009 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 20, 2026 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01J4/04
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A polarimetric imaging system employs a pixel pitch matched filter for use within, for example, a 2 by 2 pixel neighborhood, in which one pixel samples the scene via a 0 degree polarization filter and a second pixel samples the scene via a 45 degree polarization filter. The remaining two pixels record the intensity of the light within the 2 by 2 neighborhoods. The polarization filters employ organic materials such as polymers or metallic materials that are patterned and etched using reactive ion etching (RIE) or other appropriate etching technique in order to create 14 micron or smaller circular (or square) periodic structures that are patterned into polarization thin films that are deposited on an imaging sensor that includes a processor that computes from the polarization-filtered inputs the first three Stokes parameters in real-time.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.