Spectrophotometric image scrambler for full aperture microspectroscopy
First Claim
1. An optical system for a spectrophotometer that has a source of a beam of radiant energy and a detector for the radiant energy, said optical system directing radiant energy from the source to a sample along an optical path, comprising:
- means for scrambling the beam of radiant energy from the source said scrambling means being positioned to scramble a segment of the radiant energy from the source;
means for forming a sample image with the scrambled radiant energy from the source;
means for collecting radiant energy reflected from the sample, said radiant energy having image information about the sample;
said means for scrambling being positioned to also scramble said reflected radiant energy to destroy said sample image; and
means for directing said scrambled reflected radiant energy to the detector.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The optical system of the present invention comtemplates directing a beam of radiant energy to either an aperture beam splitter or polarizing beam splitter. Radiant energy from the beam splitter forms a first remote image at an entrance to an image scrambler so that any image information which the beam contains is destroyed. The output of the scrambler fills the full aperture of a focusing objective that reproduces the image of the output of the scrambler onto a sample. A mask, positioned at a remote image between the output of the scrambler and focusing objective, determines the geometrical shape of the sample image. The focusing objective images the radiant energy that is reflected from the sample to a second remote image at the scrambler so that the scrambler destroys image information while retaining spectroscopic information. The beam splitter reflects a portion of the radiant energy from the scrambler to the detector. The absence of image information in the radiant energy from the sample reduces measurement errors by producing a predictable dispersion of radiant energy at the detector.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. An optical system for a spectrophotometer that has a source of a beam of radiant energy and a detector for the radiant energy, said optical system directing radiant energy from the source to a sample along an optical path, comprising:
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means for scrambling the beam of radiant energy from the source said scrambling means being positioned to scramble a segment of the radiant energy from the source; means for forming a sample image with the scrambled radiant energy from the source; means for collecting radiant energy reflected from the sample, said radiant energy having image information about the sample; said means for scrambling being positioned to also scramble said reflected radiant energy to destroy said sample image; and means for directing said scrambled reflected radiant energy to the detector. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for obtaining a spectrum with a spectrophotometer that has a source of a beam of radiant energy and a detector for the radiant energy, including the steps of directing radiant energy from the source to a sample along an optical path, comprising the steps of:
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scrambling a segment of the beam of radiant energy from the source; forming a sample image with the scrambled radiant energy from the source; collecting radiant energy reflected from the sample, said radiant energy having image information about the sample; scrambling said reflected radiant energy to destroy said sample image; and directing said scrambled radiant energy to the detector. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification