Transmitting light with photon energy information
First Claim
1. A detection system, comprising:
- an optical sensor that outputs a narrow band of optical wavelengths when illuminated with a broad band of optical wavelengths, the narrow band of optical wavelengths changing over time; and
a detector that includes at least one layer with laterally varying transmission properties, the detector receiving light output by the optical sensor;
in response to a change over time of the narrow band of optical wavelengths output by the optical sensor, the detector transmitting a portion of the received light at a position of the at least one layer, the position having a change over time;
the detector using the position'"'"'s change over time to determine change over time of the narrow band of optical wavelengths output by the optical sensor.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In detection and sensing, light is transmitted through layers or structures that vary laterally, such as with a constant gradient or a step-like gradient. After transmission, a position of a transmitted portion of the light or of output photons can be used to determine wavelength change or to obtain other photon energy information. The light can be received, for example, from a stimulus-wavelength converter such as an optical fiber sensor or another optical sensor. A component that propagates the light from the converter to a transmission structure can spread the light across the transmission structure'"'"'s entry surface. At the exit surface of the transmission structure, photosensor components can sense or detect transmitted light or output photons, such as with a photosensor array or a position sensor. A photosensed quantity can be compared, such as with another photosensed quantity or with a calibration quantity. A differential quantity can be obtained using photosensed quantities.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. A detection system, comprising:
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an optical sensor that outputs a narrow band of optical wavelengths when illuminated with a broad band of optical wavelengths, the narrow band of optical wavelengths changing over time; and a detector that includes at least one layer with laterally varying transmission properties, the detector receiving light output by the optical sensor;
in response to a change over time of the narrow band of optical wavelengths output by the optical sensor, the detector transmitting a portion of the received light at a position of the at least one layer, the position having a change over time;
the detector using the position'"'"'s change over time to determine change over time of the narrow band of optical wavelengths output by the optical sensor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. Apparatus comprising:
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a stimulus-wavelength converter that provides light within a photon energy range that includes first and second peak energy values about which the converter provides light in response to first and second values of a stimulus, respectively;
the light provided by the stimulus-wavelength converter changing over time between the first and second peak energy values in response to change over time between the first and second values of the stimulus;a transmission structure with entry and exit surfaces, the exit surface including first and second positions;
the transmission structure being a layered structure with a laterally varying energy transmission function; anda propagation component that propagates light from the converter to the transmission structure'"'"'s entry surface; the transmission structure providing photons at the first and second positions of the exit surface in response to light received at its entry surface with the first and second peak energy values, in response to a change over time between the first and second peak energy values, the transmission structure providing photons at the first and second positions with relative quantities that change over time, a change over time in the relative quantities indicating a change over time between the first and second peak energy values. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. Apparatus comprising:
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a transmission structure with entry and exit surfaces, the transmission structure being a layered structure with a laterally varying energy transmission function;
in response to light received at the entry surface that has distributions across a range of photon energies, the distributions changing over time;
the transmission structure providing output photons at positions of the exit surface, the output photons being provided in quantities that change over time in response to change over time in the distributions;a photosensor component that photosenses quantities of photons provided at positions of the exit surface; and circuitry that responds to the photosensed quantities by providing differential quantities, each differential quantity comparing photosensed quantities from a respective one of the distributions, the differential quantities indicating change over time in the distributions. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method of using a transmission structure that is a layered structure with a laterally varying energy transmission function;
- the method comprising;
receiving light at the transmission structure'"'"'s entry surface, the received light having distributions within a range of photon energies, the distributions changing over time; in response to the received light, providing output photons at positions of the transmission structure'"'"'s exit surface, the output photons being provided in quantities that change over time in response to change over time in the distributions; photosensing quantities of output photons provided at positions of the transmission structure'"'"'s exit surface; and using the photosensed quantities to obtain differential quantities, each differential quantity comparing photosensed quantities from a respective one of the distributions, the differential quantities indicating change over time in the distributions. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
- the method comprising;
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31. A method of using a transmission structure that is a layered structure with a laterally varying energy transmission function, the method comprising two or more operations, each operation including:
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at the transmission structure'"'"'s entry surface, receiving a respective distribution of output light from a stimulus-wavelength converter, the respective distribution being within a range of photon energies; in response to the respective distribution, providing at each of a number of positions of the transmission structure'"'"'s exit surface a respective quantity of output photons; photosensing the respective quantities of output photons provided at a set of two or more positions of the transmission structure'"'"'s exit surface; and using the photosensed quantities to obtain a respective set of one or more differential quantities, each of which compares photosensed quantities from two or more of the positions in the set; the operations including first and second operations, the first operation'"'"'s respective distribution being received at the transmission structure'"'"'s entry surface at a first time in response to a first value of a stimulus;
the second operation'"'"'s respective distribution being received at the transmission structure'"'"'s entry surface at a second time in response to a second value of the stimulus, the second time being after the first time;the stimulus value changing between the first and second times so that the first and second values of the stimulus are different from each other; the second operation'"'"'s set of differential quantities being different from the first operation'"'"'s set of differential quantities, the difference between the sets of differential quantities indicating that the stimulus value changed between the first and second times. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A system comprising:
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one or more sources that provide output light with respective photon energy distributions that change over time; a transmission structure that has an entry surface at which it receives light and an exit surfaces at which it provides output photons in response, the transmission structure having a laterally varying energy transmission function; and a component that spreads the output light from each of the one or more sources across the transmission structure'"'"'s entry surface;
the component spreading the output light from each source in such a way that a change in the respective photon energy distribution over time results in a detectable change over time in quantities of the output photons provided at different positions in response to the output light from the source.
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Specification