Molecular sensing array

• US 20040041082A1
• Filed: 11/26/2002
• Published: 03/04/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Arete Associates
• Original Assignee: Arete Associates
• Inventors: Harmon, Gary R.
• Application Number:
  US10/306,899
• Publication Number:
  US 20040041082A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 250/214R
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/28 for polarising used in stereoscopes G02B30/25

Abstract

An optical sensor material, sensor system, sensor material preparation method and test method for imaging and nonimaging purpose based on an optical phase-shift material having magnetooptic properties.

Claims

1. An optical phase-shift material;

said material comprising;

photon-energized electrons interacting with a magnetic field;

a dye film supplying the photoelectrons; and

a substrate surface for supporting the dye film.

2. The material of claim 1, further comprising insulation, wherein the insulation comprises:

means for electron blocking.

3. The material of claim 2, wherein:

the electron-blocking means are located within interstitial space of the material.

4. The material of claim 2, wherein:

the electron-blocking means comprise nitrogen-containing polymers.

5. The material of claim 1, wherein:

the dye film is a photosensitive thin film.

6. The material of claim 1, wherein:

the dye film is a multilayer photosensitive thin film.

7. The material of claim 1, wherein:

the dye film has magnetooptical properties.

8. The material of claim 7, wherein:

the magneto-optical properties comprise means for causing birefringence.

9. The material of claim 7, wherein:

the magneto-optical properties comprise a capability for changing ellipticity of polarization of a probing light beam.

10. The material of claim 1, wherein:

the material is sensitive to incoming light in visible, ultraviolet and infrared spectral regions.

11. The material of claim 1, wherein:

the dye comprises ferromagnetic atoms.

12. The material of claim 1, wherein:

the material is coated on a nonplanar surface.

13. The material of claim 1, wherein:

the substrate is substantially transparent.

14. The material of claim 1, wherein:

the substrate surface is selected from the group consisting of polished metal, glass, quartz, and plastic.

15. The material of claim 1, wherein:

the substrate surface comprises one or more microscopic particles.

16. The material of claim 1, wherein:

the substrate surface comprises means defining one or more cavities.

17. The material of claim 1, wherein:

the substrate surface surrounds the dye film, forming dye microdroplets.

18. The material of claim 1, wherein the dye film is selected from the group consisting of:

pthalocyanines, porphyrins, anthraquinones and perylene derivatives.

19. The material of claim 1, wherein the dye film is selected from the group consisting of:

silver nanoparticles with anthraquinone, silver nanoparticles with quinizarin, silver nanoparticles with 1,4 diamnoanthraquinone, silver nanoparticles with oil blue, zinc pthalocyanine, perylene, zinc 2,3,910,16,17,23,24-octakis(octyloxy)-29H,31H-phthalocyanine, iron(II)phthalocyanine, protoporphyrin IX iron(III), 5,10,15,20-tetraphenyl-21H,23H-porphine iron(III)chloride, 5,10,15,20-tetraphenyl-21H,23H-porphine cobalt(III), oil blue, quiniarin 1,4-dihydroxyanthraquinone, and N,N′

-ditridecyl-3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic diimide.

20. The material of claim 1, further comprising:

means for relaxation.

21. The material of claim 20, wherein the relaxation means comprise:

holes recapturing the photon-energized electrons after the electrons enter a higher energy state.

22. The material of claim 20, wherein:

the relaxation means substantially restore the material to an initial energy state.

23. The material of claim 20, wherein:

the relaxation means substantially restore the material within a time period on the order of 100 microseconds.

24. The material of claim 20, wherein:

the relaxation means substantially restore the material in a time period on the order of 10 microseconds.

25. A sensing system, said system comprising:

an optical phase-shift material;

means for exposing the optical phase-shift material to a light pattern; and

means for detecting a resulting optical-phase shift by the material.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the detecting means comprise:

means for producing a light beam phase-shifted by the material; and

a data link transmitting the phase-shifted beam.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein:

the producing means derive the phase-shifted beam from interaction of a reading beam and the material directly, with no intervening electronic stage.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the producing means comprise:

means for imposing a magnetic field on the material to interact with the material and produce the phase shift.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the producing means comprise:

means for directing a readout beam to the material, to be phase shifted by the material.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein:

the readout beam is a beam from a laser or light-emitting diode.

31. The system of claim 28, wherein:

the magnetic field produces a force on energetic electrons, wherein the force causes elliptical polarization of light reflected from the readout laser beam.

32. The system of claim 29, wherein:

the directing means comprise means for a raster scanning the laser beam.

33. The system of claim 29, wherein:

the directing means comprise means for intensity modulating the laser beam.

34. The system of claim 29, particularly for use as an imaging system;

and wherein;

the laser beam is detected and applied to reconstruct an image carried in said light pattern.

35. The system of claim 30, wherein:

the scanning laser beam substantially instantaneously reads and transmits desired portions of the image.

36. The system of claim 33, wherein:

the directing means further comprise means for adjusting scan rates of the scanning laser beam to aid image motion compensation and smear reduction.

37. The system of claim 26, wherein the data link comprises:

a downlink from a space-based module to a planetary station or a near-planetary vehicle.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein the downlink comprises:

means for amplifying, expanding and collimating the phase-shifted beam.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein:

the expansion means and collimation means comprise a telescope for expanding and collimating the readout transmission.

40. The system of claim 25, further comprising:

means for optical processing of the phase-shifted beam.

41. The system of claim 40, wherein:

the processing means comprise means for identifying objects.

42. The system of claim 41, wherein:

the identifying means comprise means for identifying particular objects.

43. The system of claim 42, wherein:

the objects comprise manmade objects.

44. The system of claim 25, further comprising:

means for processing the resulting image light to present.

45. The system of claim 44, wherein:

the processing means comprise means for annotating the resulting image light.

46. The system of claim 25, further comprising:

automatic means for monitoring resulting image light;

wherein the monitoring means are selected from the group consisting of;

an annunciator for alerting an operator to the resulting image light,

an alarm for alerting an operator to the resulting image light;

robotics for carrying out an appropriate response to the resulting image light; and

an automated task performed in response to the resulting image light.

47. The system of claim 25, for use in surveillance, said system further comprising:

optics for focusing light emanating from a desired image;

means for reading and transmitting the resulting image light;

confocal scanning means for transmitting light to a photodiode or an amplifier;

means for amplifying the resulting image light;

transmission means comprising the data link;

means for reconstructing or analyzing the light pattern;

means for receiving and displaying the resulting image light;

means for processing the resulting image; and

automatic means for monitoring the resulting image and providing an appropriate response.

48. The system of claim 47, wherein the reading and transmitting means are selected from the group consisting of:

a scanning laser; and

a light-emitting diode illumination.

49. The system of claim 47, wherein the amplification means comprise:

a laser telescope amplifier;

means for transmitting the light pattern, said transmitting means being selected from the group consisting of;

a free space link; and

fiber optics; and

means for receiving the transmitted light pattern;

said receiver being selected from the group consisting of;

a receiver telescope; and

a fiber optics receiver.

50. The system of claim 49, wherein the transmitting means comprise:

an avalanche high-speed photodiode; and

means selected from the group-consisting of;

a modulator;

a free space link;

fiber optics; and

an electronics line.

51. The system of claim 49, wherein the receiving and displaying means comprise means for forming images selected from the group consisting of:

panchromatic images;

color images;

polarimetric images; and

video images.

52. The system of claim 25, particularly for forming multiple images in a time series;

said system further comprising;

means for reading and transmitting the resulting image light;

confocal optics for transmitting the light;

means for reconstructing or analyzing the light pattern; and

means for receiving the resulting image light.

53. The system of claim 52, wherein the reading and transmitting means are selected from the group consisting of:

a scanning laser; and

a light-emitting diode illumination.

54. The system of claim 52, wherein the receiving means comprise means for forming images selected from the group consisting of:

panchromatic images;

color images;

polarimetric images;

spectrographic images; and

video images.

55. The system of claim 25, wherein:

the material comprises an array.

56. The system of claim 55, wherein:

the array is substantially seamless.

57. The system of claim 25, wherein:

the material is coated on a curved surface.

58. The system of claim 55, wherein:

the array is at a focal-surface array.

59. The system of claim 55, wherein:

the array has an f/number roughly 1, or smaller.

60. The system of claim 55, wherein:

the array is cylindrical and is for use in receiverless sensing comprising radio frequency to ultraviolet wavelength sensing.

61. The system of claim 25, wherein:

the material comprises one or more dye molecules.

62. The system of claim 61, wherein:

the dye molecules comprises comprise pixels.

63. The system of claim 62, wherein:

the pixels are electrostatically localized in an array.

64. The system of claim 62, wherein:

the pixels are reproducibly arranged in the array.

65. The system of claim 62, wherein:

the pixels are smaller than light wavelengths emanating from an object to be imaged.

66. The system of claim 62, wherein:

the pixels are of an order 10 nanometers in size.

67. The system of claim 62, wherein:

the pixels are aligned to polarize light.

68. The system of claim 62, wherein:

the pixels are oriented perpendicularly to the magnetic field.

69. The system of claim 25, wherein:

the material is for use in optical switching.

70. The system of claim 69, wherein:

the optical switching comprises sub-nanosecond optical switching.

71. The system of claim 25, wherein:

the material is for use in chemical-process monitoring.

72. The system of claim 71, wherein:

the chemical-process monitoring comprises femtosecond chemical-process monitoring.

73. The system of claim 25, wherein:

the material is used as an optical absorber for optical stealth applications.

74. The system of claim 73, wherein the optical stealth applications are selected from the group consisting of:

missile technology,

aerospace technology,

aviation technology,

film technology,

video technology,

stealth technologies; and

securities industries.

75. A sensing method, said sensing method comprising the steps of:

selecting one or more photoelectric dyes;

ordering layers of a film comprising the photoelectric dyes;

coating a substrate with the film;

configuring the substrate into an array;

exposing the array to a light pattern; and

detecting a resulting optical phase shift by the array.

76. The method of claim 75, further comprising the step of:

optimizing the dye film for use with particular wavelengths of imaged light by choice of film properties selected from the group consisting of;

film thickness,

film density,

film cross-sectional area,

ionizable electrons per molecule,

spectral reflectivity and absorptivity, and

angle of molecular orientation to the substrate.

77. The method of claim 75, further comprising the steps of:

producing a light beam phase-shifted by the array; and

transmitting the phase-shifted beam as a data link.

78. The method of claim 77, further comprising the step of:

deriving the phase-shifted beam from interaction of a reading beam and the array directly with no intervening electronic stage.

79. The method of claim 78, wherein:

the reading beam is a laser or light-emitting diode.

80. The method of claim 78, particularly for use as an imaging method;

further comprising the steps of;

detecting the laser beam; and

applying the laser beam to reconstruct an image carried in said light pattern.

81. The method of claim 75, further comprising the steps of:

imposing a magnetic field on the array to interact with the array and produce the phase-shift.

82. The method of claim 78, further comprising the step of:

producing a magnetic field force on energetic electrons, wherein the force causes elliptical polarization of a light reflected from the reading beam.

83. The method of claim 78, further comprising the step of:

raster scanning the reading beam.

84. The method of claim 83, further comprising the step of:

adjusting scan rates of the scanning laser beam to aid image motion compensation and smear reduction.

85. The method of claim 78, further comprising the step of:

intensity modulating the laser beam.

86. The method of claim 75, further comprising the steps of:

amplifying, expanding and collimating the phase-shifted beam.

87. The method of claim 75, further comprising the step of:

optically processing the phase-shifted beam.

88. The method of claim 87, wherein the processing step comprises the step of:

identifying particular objects.

89. The method of claim 88, wherein:

the objects comprise man-made objects.

90. The method of claim 88, wherein the processing step comprises:

processing the resulting image light to present.

91. The method of claim 75, further comprising the steps of:

automatically monitoring resulting image light;

wherein the monitoring is selected from the group consisting of;

annunciating the resulting optical phase shift;

alerting an operator to the resulting optical phase shift;

robotically carrying out an appropriate response to the resulting optical phase shift; and

automatically performing a task in response to the resulting optical phase shift.

92. A molecular sensing array preparation method, said method comprising the steps of:

selecting one or more photoelectric dyes;

ordering layers of a film comprising the photoelectric dyes;

coating a substrate with the film; and

configuring the substrate into an array.

93. The method of claim 92, further comprising the step of:

optimizing the dye film for use with particular wavelengths of imaged light by choice of film properties selected from the group consisting of;

film thickness,

film density,

film cross-sectional area,

ionizable electrons per molecule,

spectral reflectivity and absorptivity, and

angle of molecular orientation to the substrate.

94. A test method for testing an optical-phase shift based imaging system;

said method comprising the steps of;

exposing an optical phase-shift material to a light beam;

locating the material in a rotating mechanism placed perpendicularly to the incoherent light;

incrementally rotating the exposed material;

exposing a polarizer to a resulting light beam; and

detecting the resulting light beam.

95. The test method of claim 94, further comprising the step of:

locating a magnet in the rotating mechanism; and

exposing the material to the magnet.

96. The test method of claim 94, wherein:

the light beam is a light source selected from the group consisting of;

an incandescent light, a light-emitting diode and a laser.

97. The test method of claim 94, wherein:

the polarizer is an analyzing polarizer.

98. The test method of claim 94, further comprising the step of:

exposing a polarizing filter to the light beam.

99. The test method of claim 94, further comprising the step of:

exposing the light beam to a prism located on the material and perpendicularly to the beam.