System and method for optical power management

US7692785B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• General Electric Company · US

Inventors

• Willam Scott Sutherland · Haverhill, US
• Anis Zribi · Colorado Springs, US
• Long Que · Rexford, US
• Glenn Scott Claydon · Wynantskill, US
• Stacey Joy Kennerly · Niskayuna, US
• Ayan Banerjee · Fremont, US
• Shivappa Goravar · Bengaluru, IN
• Shankar Chandrasekaran · Viralimalai, IN
• David Cecil Hays · Niskayuna, US
• Victor Donald Samper · Kirchseeon, DE
• Dirk Lange · Neubukow, DE
• Marko Klaus Baller · Bad Abbach, DE
• Min-Yi Shih · Clifton Park, US
• Sandip Maity · Kistapur, IN

Key dates

• Filing date: Mar 29, 2007
• Grant date: Apr 6, 2010
• Expiry date: Oct 15, 2027

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G02B26/0816
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A system and method for managing optical power for controlling thermal alteration of a sample undergoing spectroscopic analysis is provided. The system includes a moveable laser beam generator for irradiating the sample and a beam shaping device for moving and shaping the laser beam to prevent thermal overload or build up in the sample. The moveable laser beam generator includes at least one beam shaping device selected from the group consisting of at least one optical lens, at least one optical diffractor, at least one optical path difference modulator, at least one moveable mirror, at least one Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) integrated circuit (IC), and/or a liquid droplet. The system also includes an at least two degree of freedom (2 DOF) moveable substrate platform and a controller for controlling the laser beam generator and the substrate platform, and for analyzing light reflected from the sample.