Holographic fingerprint device
First Claim
1. A device of compact construction for producing an image of the topographical surface structure of an object, comprising:
- a light transmitting substrate having an index of refraction N1, capable of transmitting light;
an object illuminating region for illuminating an object in proximity therewith;
an optical element having an index of refraction N2 and embodying a light-diffractive grating, said optical element being affixed to a portion of said light transmitting substrate, and disposed about an optical axis passing through said object illuminating region; and
light producing means for producing light rays for propagation within said light transmitting substrate, and towards said optical element, said light diffractive grating defining means for redirecting light rays incident thereon to a different optical axis and for propagating the redirected light rays along said different optical axis towards said object;
whereupon said light rays fall incident upon the object disposed proximate to said object illuminating region, are modulated by the topographical surface structure of the object and propagate back through said light transmitting substrate and said optical element substantially along said different optical axis and fall incident upon an image detection means positionable substantially about said different optical axis, so as to detect an image of the topographical surface structure of the object, wherein the image propagated through said light transmitting substrate and said optical element is along substantially the same optical axis along which light was previously propagated toward the object.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and ultra-compact system has been developed for illuminating and detecting the surface topography of an object such as the finger (4) of an individual. The system (8) is capable of producing high-contrast images which can be electronically transmitted in real-time, or stored using electronic or photographic recording devices. Light traveling within a light transmitting substrate (2) is redirected by a slanted-fringed light diffractive grating preferably embodied within a volume hologram (3). The volume hologram (3), either of the reflection or transmission type, is attached to the light transmitting substrate (2). and functions to diffract light striking thereupon and illuminate an object having topographical surface structure. After being spatially and intensity modulated in accordance with topographical details of the illuminated object, the insulated light passes back through the light transmitting substrate (2) and the volume hologram (3), onto an image detection array. for subsequent analysis. Each of the disclosed embodiments has a compact geometry suitable for use in diverse object identification applications.
154 Citations
46 Claims
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1. A device of compact construction for producing an image of the topographical surface structure of an object, comprising:
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a light transmitting substrate having an index of refraction N1, capable of transmitting light; an object illuminating region for illuminating an object in proximity therewith; an optical element having an index of refraction N2 and embodying a light-diffractive grating, said optical element being affixed to a portion of said light transmitting substrate, and disposed about an optical axis passing through said object illuminating region; and light producing means for producing light rays for propagation within said light transmitting substrate, and towards said optical element, said light diffractive grating defining means for redirecting light rays incident thereon to a different optical axis and for propagating the redirected light rays along said different optical axis towards said object; whereupon said light rays fall incident upon the object disposed proximate to said object illuminating region, are modulated by the topographical surface structure of the object and propagate back through said light transmitting substrate and said optical element substantially along said different optical axis and fall incident upon an image detection means positionable substantially about said different optical axis, so as to detect an image of the topographical surface structure of the object, wherein the image propagated through said light transmitting substrate and said optical element is along substantially the same optical axis along which light was previously propagated toward the object. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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Specification