Optics: measuring and testing inventions 08/06

20060192938 - Distance image sensor: A distance image sensor for removing the background light and improving the charge transfer efficiency in a device for measuring the distance to an object by measuring the time-of-flight of the light. In a distance image sensor for determining the signals of two charge storage nodes which depend on the...

20060192939 - Optical sharpness meter: A method making use of an optical sharpness meter for measuring and quantifying the degree of sharpness at points along a blade by directing a light at the sharpened edge and measuring the intensity of the reflected light which varies with the sharpness and using the information to direct efforts...

20060192940 - Modular flow cytometry system: The present invention provides a novel flow cytometry system having high sample cell throughput with simultaneous single and multi-parameter development, extraction and analysis. The invention is comprised of one or more analytic modules or chips aggregated into a stack or chain creating a common laser light transmission channel while maintaining...

20060192942 - Optical fiber and method of measuring polarization mode dispersion of optical fiber: A method of measuring polarization mode dispersion (PMD) of an optical fiber, includes estimating PMD when an optical fiber is formed as an optical cable, from a beat length when the optical fiber is wound around a bobbin, and an average coupling length when the optical fiber is formed as...

20060192945 - Device for visualizing a mark on a spectacle lense: A method and an apparatus for making visible a mark on a spectacle lens are disclosed. An illumination light beam is directed to the spectacle lens. The illumination light beam runs through the spectacle lens and, after having run through the spectacle lens, is reflected on a reflector configured as...

20060192944 - Method for visualizing a mark on a spectacle lense: A method and an apparatus for making visible a mark on a spectacle lens are disclosed. An illumination light beam is directed to the spectacle lens. The illumination light beam runs through the spectacle lens and, after having run through the spectacle lens, is reflected on a reflector configured as...

20060192943 - Optimizing focal plane fitting functions for an image field on a substrate: An exposure tool includes an illumination source, a blazed phase grating reticle, a lens system, a focus sensor configured for maintaining a focus of the lens system, a stage holding a sample, and a controller. The controller is configured to control the illumination source and a position of the blazed...

20060192946 - Method and device for image processing in a geodesical measuring appliance: The invention relates to a method for the geodesical measurement of an object (1), using a geodesical measuring appliance (2) comprising recording means (3) for acquiring a recorded image (4) at least of the object (1) to be geodesically measured. Once the angular orientation of a coverage strip (5) of...

20060192947 - Optimizing light path uniformity in inspection systems: An inspection system includes an illumination source configured to illuminate a blazed phase grating sample, image collection pathways and an imaging system configured to capture an image of a sample point of the blazed phase grating sample, and a controller configured to adjust the illumination source in response to an...

20060192952 - Inspection of transparent substrates for defects: Methods, apparatus and systems for the detection of defects in transparent substrates such as glass sheets are disclosed. The methods, apparatus and systems are capable of detecting optical path length variations in transparent substrates smaller than 100 nm....

20060192949 - System and method for inspecting a workpiece surface by analyzing scattered light in a back quartersphere region above the workpiece: A surface inspection system includes a beam source subsystem, a beam scanning subsystem, a workpiece movement subsystem, an optical collection and detection subsystem, and a processing subsystem. The optical collection and detection system features back collectors disposed in the back quartersphere, outside the incident plane, for collecting light scattered from...

20060192950 - System and method for inspecting a workpiece surface using combinations of light collectors: A surface inspection system includes a beam source subsystem, a beam scanning subsystem, a workpiece movement subsystem, an optical collection and detection subsystem, and a processing subsystem. The processing subsystem has a channel formation capability for forming selected channels and developing channel output associated with each selected channel, with the...

20060192948 - System and method for inspecting a workpiece surface using polarization of scattered light: A surface inspection system, as well as related components and methods, are provided. The surface inspection system includes a beam source subsystem, a beam scanning subsystem, a workpiece movement subsystem, an optical collection and detection subsystem, and a processing subsystem. The system features a variable polarization a polarizing relay assembly...

20060192951 - System and methods for classifying anomalies of sample surfaces: Two or more defect maps may be provided for the same sample surface at different detection sensitivities and/or processing thresholds. The defect maps may then be compared for better characterization of the anomalies as scratches, area anomalies or point anomalies. This can be done without concealing the more significant and...

20060192953 - Surface inspection apparatus and surface inspection method: A surface inspection apparatus and a surface inspection method aim to securely deal with finer repetition pitch without shortening the wavelength of illumination light. To this end, the apparatus includes a unit illuminating repetitive pattern(s) formed on the substrate surface to be inspected with linearly polarized light, a unit setting...

20060192954 - Laser system for measurements of the profile of objects: A system for measuring a profile of an object comprising a source creating a beam of electromagnetic energy. An electromagnetic beam receiver spaced from the source for processing an output signal proportional to the girth of the object being measured. A platform for providing rotational and vertical movement of the...

20060192955 - Imaging platform for nanoparticle detection applied to spr biomolecular interaction analysis: A flow imaging system is used to implement surface plasmon resonance (SPR) detection to study bio-molecular interactions. The flow imaging system is used to capture SPR absorption spectra of large numbers of objects, where each object includes both a metal film capable of exhibiting SPR, and detecting molecules. Analyte molecules...

20060192956 - Near infrared chemical imaging microscope: A chemical imaging system is provided which uses a near infrared radiation microscope. The system includes an illumination source which illuminates an area of a sample using light in the near infrared radiation wavelength and light in the visible wavelength. A multitude of spatially resolved spectra of transmitted, reflected, emitted...

20060192957 - Colour measurement device with associated measurement head: A spectrophotometer for integration purposes includes a measurement head with an illumination arrangement (10) including at least one light source (11) for the illumination of a measurement object located in a measurement plane (M) under an angle of incidence of at least 45°, with a pick-up arrangement for capturing the...

20060192958 - Vacuum ultraviolet reflectometer having collimated beam: A spectroscopy system is provided which is optimized for operation in the VUV region and capable of performing well in the DUV-NIR region. Additionally, the system incorporates an optical module which presents selectable sources and detectors optimized for use in the VUV and DUV-NIR. As well, the optical module provides...

20060192959 - Circular dichroism detection system: A detection system comprising modulation means for applying a circular polarisation modulation to an incident beam of radiation, sample holding means through which the modulated beam is passed, a grating to diffract the beam of radiation, an array of solid state detectors arranged to receive different wavelengths of the beam,...

20060192961 - Method and apparatus for determination of source polarization matrix: A method and apparatus for resolving both the angular (nx,ny) and spatial (x,y) dependence of the effective source coherence matrix for lithographic steppers and scanners is described. First an in-situ source metrology instrument is combined with in-situ polarization elements to create an in-situ source imaging polarizer or ISIP. The ISIP...

20060192960 - Polarization detection: Disclosed is an optical device for receiving light having a wavelength between 400 nm and 680 nm. The device has a polarizing beam splitter (PBS) that comprises a substrate having a first and second surface, at least one of which being coated with a substantially parallel array of elongated conducting...

20060192962 - Three-dimensional image display apparatus: The present invention provides a three-dimensional image display apparatus, including a first phase retardation plate including first and second polarized light regions in which retarder materials are oriented in different optical axis directions, wherein the first phase retardation plate retards light output from a polarized light display panel, and a...

20060192963 - Illumination arrangement for a colour measurement device: An illumination arrangement intended for use in a spectrophotometer is constructed as a linear array of light emitting diodes (11), whereby many individual light emitting diode chips are tightly packed along a small, narrowly defined straight or circular line and at least partially cast into a resin, in which at...

20060192964 - Measuring device for the measurement of optical properties of coated substrates: A measuring device includes several sequentially disposed coating chambers for measuring optical properties of coated substrates. These coating chambers are separated from one another by partitioning walls, whose free ends are located closely above the substrate. The substrate is preferably a continuous film. By measuring the reflection, the transmission, etc....

20060192965 - Method for assessing the condition of bone in-vivo: A method and apparatus for assessing bone tissue comprises the steps of and means for: exposing a sample to nonionizing radiation; detecting nonionizing radiation after transit in the bone tissue; measuring optical properties from the detected nonionizing radiation to characterize bone tissue across an entire selected spectral range using a...

20060192966 - Gas sensors: The present invention relates to a device for accomplishing noise reduction in a photoacoustic gas detector using a sound damping element and/or a background or reference microphone where a preferably larger external volume that acts as a sound damping element (SDE) is coupled to a smaller volume through which the...

20060192967 - Method and apparatus for trace gas detection: In spectroscopic devices the sections of an optical measuring path from a light source to a measuring volume containing a measuring gas and from there to a measuring detector are often sealed off from the ambient atmosphere and purged with a purge gas such as dry nitrogen to prevent penetration...

20060192968 - Optical assembly: An optical assembly comprises an optical device (103); an enclosure (101) for containing the optical device (103), the enclosure (101) including a transparent section (107) to allow passage of a light beam (104) to or from the optical device (103); and means for measuring the attenuation of a test light...

20060192969 - Distinguishing non-resonant four-wave-mixing noise in coherent stokes and anti-stokes raman scattering: A method of examining a sample comprises exposing the sample to a pump pulse of electromagnetic radiation for a first period of time, exposing the sample to a stimulant pulse of electromagnetic radiation for a second period of time which overlaps in time with at least a portion of the...

20060192970 - Apparatus and method for stabilizing lasers using dual etalons: Method and apparatus are disclosed that enable lasers to be stabilized in frequency to a high precision while simultaneously enabling rapid re-acquisition of stabilization control loops in the event of frequency locking loss. The principle of operation is to incorporate two etalons, one having a high finesse for frequency high...

20060192971 - Scanning spectrum analyzer: A system for spectral analysis of a multi-wavelength signal is disclosed. The illustrative embodiment of the present invention, like the prior art, uses a grating or prism to disperse the spectral components of a multi-wavelength signal, and then uses a reciprocating or rotating mirror to direct the spectral components, one...

20060192972 - Spatial-heterodyne interferometry for transmission (shift) measurements: Systems and methods are described for spatial-heterodyne interferometry for transmission (SHIFT) measurements. An apparatus, includes: a source of coherent light energy; a reference beam subassembly optically coupled to the source of coherent light; an object beam subassembly optically coupled to the source of coherent light; a beamsplitter optically coupled to...

20060192973 - Heterodyne reflectomer for film thickness monitoring and method for implementing: The present invention is directed to a heterodyne reflectometer system and method for obtaining highly accurate phase shift information from heterodyned optical signals, from which extremely accurate film depths can be calculated. A linearly polarized light comprised of two linearly polarized components that are orthogonal to each other, with split...

20060192974 - Interferometric moems sensor: The present invention relates to an optical interferometric apparatus and method for measuring acceleration, pressure, and pressure of fluids during flow using micro-opto-electro-mechanical-systems (MOEMS). The high-sensitivity and high-resolution apparatus includes a movable mass, a stationary mass, a light source, and a photo detector. The light source emits a beam which...

20060192975 - Surface shape measuring apparatus: A surface shape measuring adapted so that object light and reference light are outputted from a low coherence light source, the object light which is irradiated onto an object and is reflected and returned therefrom is combined with the reference light, combined light is received by a photodetector to measure...

20060192976 - Highly-sensitive displacement-measuring optical device: Micron-scale displacement measurement devices having enhanced performance characteristics are disclosed. One embodiment of a micron-scale displacement measurement device includes a phase-sensitive reflective diffraction grating for reflecting a first portion of an incident light and transmitting a second portion of the incident light such that the second portion of the incident...

20060192977 - Method and apparatus for inspection of optical component: An inspection method for evaluating the performance of an optical component at high precision is provided. According to the inspection method, a first light beam 24 and a second light beam 26 both having different phases are generated from light which has passed through an optical component 18, and are...

20060192978 - Optical metrology method which is used to determine the three-dimensional topography of a hole: The invention relates to a method for the optical metrology of conical holes. The inventive method consists in: placing the body comprising the hole in a microscope such that the larger-diametered area of the hole is directed towards lighting means, centring the hole in the field of vision of the...

20060192979 - Optical measuring process and precision measuring machine for determining the deviations from ideal shape of technically polished surfaces: In a known measuring process, the stability for the generation of two measuring beams, by means of two measuring systems operating in the same measurement strategy is given. The reflection angle of the measuring beams deflected onto a blank are detected as inclination deviations of the surface and analyzed by...

20060192980 - Image position detecting device and image forming apparatus using the same: An image position detecting device is disclosed that detects an image position based on a reflected light from an image carrier that reflects a light irradiated from a light emitting source. The device includes first and second light receivers that are spaced apart in a moving direction of the image...

20060187441 - Position sensitive photoelectric sensor and method of setting reference distance in the same: In a position sensitive photoelectric sensor that calculates a distance to a target based on a triangular range finding using a light and outputs a result compared with a reference distance, first the reference distance Dref is set roughly by using a light receiving portion adjusting mechanism that changes an...

20060187442 - Device for counting micro particles: A device for counting micro particles is presented. The device comprises a light source; a chip containing micro particles; an object lens; a CCD camera; a counting part; and a shifter for shifting the position of the chip. It is easy to count the number of micro particles, such as...

20060187444 - Thin film inspection apparatus and thin film inspection method: The measurement light radiated from a radiator 2 enters an object of inspection through an integrating sphere 22. The measurement light is reflected on a base 52 of the object or a thin film 54. Further, the reflected light enters the integrating sphere 22 and is equalized in the integrating...

20060187445 - Backside contamination inspection device: A system for simultaneously inspecting the frontsides and backsides of semiconductor wafers for defects is disclosed. The system rotates the semiconductor wafer while the frontside and backside surfaces are generally simultaneously optically scanned for defects. Rotation is induced by providing contact between the beveled edges of the semiconductor wafer and...

20060187446 - Highly sensitive defect detection method: A highly sensitive defect detection method is disclosed. A medium with a refractive index greater than 1 is formed on a sample. As a result, incident light projected by a defect detecting system attenuates less when reaching the bottom defects. The detection sensitivity of the defect detecting system is enhanced...

20060187447 - Method for calibrating a metrology tool and a system: A method for calibrating a metrology tool, the method includes: determining a relationship between an upper portion of a milled reference structural element and between a lower portion of the milled reference structural element; and defining a calibration parameter in response to the relationship. A metrology system that includes: a...

20060187448 - Whole spectrum fluorescence detection with ultrafast white light excitation: A fluorescence detection system for testing a sample having at least one fluorophore. The fluorescence detection system comprises a white light generation system outputting a white light pulse. The white light pulse has a first frequency range and a first time duration. The white light pulse excites the at least...

20060187449 - Pesticide detector and method: Highly portable, handheld instrument which can be pointed at the produce to be checked. Light from a source within the instrument is directed onto the produce to induce fluorescent emission from the produce, and fluorescent emissions from the produce are monitored with a detector within the instrument to detect the...

20060187450 - Axial illumination for capillary electrophoresis: System and method for fluorescent light excitation and detection from samples to enhance the numerical aperture and/or reduce the cross-talk of the fluorescent light....

20060187452 - Birefringence measurement of polymeric films and the like: Provided are methods for determining the birefringence level of optical material such as polymeric film. In one embodiment, the method uses a setup of optical components that has known system reference angle. The sample may be a stretched polymeric film that has a fast axis angle that has a predetermined...

20060187451 - Phase-shifting test mask patterns for characterizing illumination polarization balance in image forming optical systems: A method to monitor the state of polarization incident on the photomask in projection printing is presented. The method includes a series of phase-shifting mask patterns that take advantage of high NA effects to create a signal dependent on only one incident polarization component. The patterns exist in two embodiments:...

20060187453 - Apparatus for the examination of the properties of optical surfaces: A device for examining the optical properties of surfaces includes a first radiation source which emits radiation to an examination surface, at least one first detector device, for detecting the radiation reflected off the surface and emitting at least one signal that is characteristic of at least one parameter of...

20060187454 - Photonic device package with aligned lens cap: A photonic device package with a passively aligned lens cap is disclosed. The lens cap is positioned with an unobstructed view of the lens portion of the lens cap. A header holding a photonic device, is moved relative to the cap or vice versa until the video display system indicates...

20060187455 - Correction of the colorimetric value of colors measured under different observation conditions and generation of their profiles: For extracting a spectral distribution for correcting a result of color measurement under a first observation condition into a result of color measurement under a second observation condition, a first calorimetric value resulting from the color measurement of a sample specimen for evaluation under the first observation condition is acquired,...

20060187456 - Method of measuring the position of a mask surface along the height direction, exposure device, and exposure method: A method to measure the height-direction position of a mask M in an exposure device having a function to irradiate the mask M with light emitted from a light source and transfer a pattern formed on the mask M onto a photosensitive substrate such as a wafer by a projection...

20060187458 - Information handling system including dust detection: An information handling system (“IHS”) including an enclosure is provided. A dust detection circuit, located inside the enclosure, is also provided. The dust detection circuit determines whether an amount of dust present inside the enclosure is greater than a predetermined amount....

20060187457 - Method and system for reducing parasitic spectral noise in tunable semiconductor source spectroscopy system: A spectroscopy system comprises a tunable semiconductor laser, such as an external cavity laser, that generates a tunable signal. A detector is provided for detecting the tunable signal after interaction with a sample. In this way, the system is able to determine the spectroscopic response of the sample by tuning...

20060187460 - Method for measuring the surface plasmon resonance: It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for obtaining a chromatogram using the SPR analysis method. The present invention provides a method for measuring the change in the surface plasmon resonance by using a surface plasmon resonance measurement device which comprises a metal film, a...

20060187459 - Portable biochip scanner using surface plasmon resonance: A portable biochip scanner includes a surface plasmon resonance unit formed in a rotational disk-shape and an optical head projecting light to the surface plasmon resonance unit at an angle within a predetermined range and detecting light totally-reflected from the surface plasmon resonance unit. The optical head is movable in...

20060187461 - Integrated spectroscopy system: Integrated spectroscopy systems are disclosed. In some examples, integrated tunable detectors, using one or multiple Fabry-Perot tunable filters, are provided. Other examples use integrated tunable sources. The tunable source combines one or multiple diodes, such as superluminescent light emitting diodes (SLED), and a Fabry Perot tunable filter or etalon. The...

20060187462 - Methods and apparatus for optical coherence tomography scanning: In one aspect, the invention relates to a method of acquiring optical coherence tomographic data from a sample. The method includes the steps of scanning a first location on the sample to obtain a first set of optical coherence tomographic data, scanning a second location on the sample to obtain...

20060187463 - Optical-distortion correcting apparatus and optical-distortion correcting method: A reference-height calculating unit calculates an original height of a distortion detecting mirror when a distortion detecting mirror and a reference mirror are set in parallel to each other. A height measuring unit measures mirror heights when the distortion detecting mirror is tilted in directions of an X axis and...

20060187464 - Interferometry systems and methods of using interferometry systems: In general, in one aspect, the invention features methods that include interferometrically monitoring a distance between an interferometry assembly and a measurement object along each of three different measurement axes while moving the measurement object relative to the interferometry assembly. The methods also include monitoring an orientation angle of the...

20060187465 - Interferometry systems and methods: In general, in one aspect, the invention features an apparatus that includes an interferometer having a main cavity and an auxiliary reference surface, the main cavity including a partially reflective surface defining a primary reference surface and a test surface. The interferometer is configured to direct a primary portion of...

20060187467 - Method for measuring optical-phase distribution: A provided optical-phase-distribution measuring method, by which optical phase distribution is identified at high speed and with high accuracy from information on light-intensity distribution without using a special measuring device, comprises steps: for inputting light to be measured to optical systems, respectively, modulating the intensity and the phase, detecting the...

20060187468 - Optical metrology of single features: The profile of a single feature formed on a wafer can be determined by obtaining an optical signature of the single feature using a beam of light focused on the single feature. The obtained optical signature can then be compared to a set of simulated optical signatures, where each simulated...

20060187466 - Selecting unit cell configuration for repeating structures in optical metrology: To select a unit cell configuration for a repeating structure in optical metrology, a plurality of unit cell configurations are defined for the repeating structure. Each unit cell configuration is defined by one or more unit cell parameters. Each unit cell of the plurality of unity cell configurations differs from...

20060187469 - Three-dimensional measuring apparatus and three-dimensional measuring method: The invention provides a measuring apparatus that can efficiently analyze a three-dimensional image by simultaneously recording a circular streak image and a straight-line streak image at a measured point, even when a large number of circular streak images are present. A measuring apparatus includes: a 3CCD camera; a cubic beam...

20060187470 - Optical metrology system: An optical metrology system having an optical metrology sensor assembly and a target is disclosed. The optical metrology sensor assembly transmits a light beam to the target and then uses the reflected beam from the target to determine the position of the target in three dimensions. The optical metrology sensor...

20060181694 - Method for eliminating internal reflection of range finding system and range finding system applying the same: A method for eliminating internal reflection signal in a range finding system is disclosed, including the steps of receiving a range-finding signal reflected by an object and an internal reflection signal caused by internal reflection of the range finding system, converting the range finding signal and internal reflection signal, as...

20060181695 - Compensating liquid delivery system and method: A compensating fluid supply system that is capable of near real time adjustment of the timing of a pumping action of a positive displacement pump is disclosed. The geometrical characteristics of a flow tube and a velocity of a moving stream are used to measure individual pumping actions. Based on...

20060181696 - Methods and apparatus for automation of the testing and measurement of optical fiber: A system and methods for automating the testing of optical fiber are described. According to one aspect of the present invention, an automated conveyor system moves spools of optical fiber contained on pallets from testing station to testing station. According to another aspect of the present invention, a single spool...

20060181697 - Circularly polarized light for optically inspecting workpieces: A method and apparatus for inspecting substrates in which a laser beam traces a path along the substrate surface. The laser beam is circularly polarized, e.g. by a quarter wave retarder. This permits inspecting the substrate with less sensitivity to scratch direction than if the laser beam were not circularly...

20060181698 - Method and apparatus for selectively providing data from a test head to a processor: An optical test head comprises one or more detectors for providing output signals indicative of the condition of a workpiece surface. Data from these detectors are stored in one or more memories only when the data from the detectors satisfy one or more conditions (e.g. the data exceed than a...

20060181699 - Method of inspecting substrate processing apparatus and storage medium storing inspection program for executing the method: A method of inspecting a substrate processing apparatus, which is capable of preventing product substrates from being supplied to a substrate processing chamber to be inspected, and inspecting the substrate processing chamber in desired timing. Product wafers W (product substrates) are inhibited from being conveyed into a processing unit to...

20060181700 - System and method for signal processing for a workpiece surface inspection system: A surface inspection system, as well as related components and methods, are provided. The surface inspection system includes a beam source subsystem, a beam scanning subsystem, a workpiece movement subsystem, an optical collection and detection subsystem, and a processing subsystem. The signal processing subsystem comprises a series of data acquisition...

20060181701 - Device for raman spectroscopy and raman spectroscopic apparatus: A device for Raman spectroscopy comprises a fine structure body provided with an array structure region, in which a plurality of recess areas having approximately identical shapes, as viewed from above, are arrayed regularly at approximately identical pitches. A surface of the fine structure body on the side of the...

20060181702 - Method, structure, and apparatus for raman spectroscopy: Disclosed herein are a Raman spectroscopy structure comprising a porous material substrate, and a method of performing Raman spectroscopy of a sample disposed adjacent to the structure comprising the porous material substrate. Generally, the substrate includes one or more layers of a porous material such as porous silicon, porous polysilicon,...

20060181703 - Method and apparatus for detecting biomolecular interactions: Method and apparatus for detecting biomolecular interactions. The use of labels is not required and the methods may be performed in a high-throughput manner. An apparatus for detecting biochemical interactions occurring on the surface of a biosensor includes a light source. A first optical fiber is coupled to the light...

20060181704 - Method and apparatus for detecting biomolecular interactions: Method and apparatus for detecting biomolecular interactions. The use of labels is not required and the methods may be performed in a high-throughput manner. An apparatus for detecting biochemical interactions occurring on the surface of a biosensor includes a light source. A first optical fiber is coupled to the light...

20060181705 - Method and apparatus for detecting biomolecular interactions: Method and apparatus for detecting biomolecular interactions. The use of labels is not required and the methods may be performed in a high-throughput manner. An apparatus for detecting biochemical interactions occurring on the surface of a biosensor includes a light source. A first optical fiber is coupled to the light...

20060181706 - Process for enhancing dye polymer recording yields by pre-scanning coated substrate for defects: A method for enhancing recording yields by monitoring dye polymer formation on a glass substrate is provided. After the glass substrate is coated with a dye polymer layer and before pits are formed on the dye-polymer coated glass, the dye polymer coated glass substrate is scanned to detect defects. The...

20060181707 - Method of producing matched coating composition and device used therefor: The present invention is directed to a method and device that use spectral measurements of the color of a target coating on a substrate, such as auto body being matched. The method utilizes pigment mixture models to produce a matched coating composition that when applied as a coating matches in...

20060181708 - Photothermal conversion measurement apparatus, photothermal conversion measurement method, and sample cell: A liquid sample is irradiated with excitation light and measurement light, and a measurement position at which a traveling path of the measurement light passes through an excitation section of the excitation light in the sample is changed while the sample is being irradiated with the excitation light and the...

20060181709 - Method and system for diffusion attenuated total reflection based concentration sensing: A system for measuring light absorption levels includes a light source providing a light beam and a container for a liquid. The container includes an opening to provide access to the liquid. A prism is disposed over the opening and is operable to direct at least a first portion of...

20060181710 - Method for the precise measurement of the wavelength of light: A process for measuring the absorption spectrum of a target analyte using a cavity ring down spectrometer, comprising the steps of: i) tuning the spectrometer laser so that the light transmitted from the laser into the spectrometer optical cavity is varied over a wavelength interval which encompasses both the absorption...

20060181711 - Method and apparatus for suppression of crosstalk and noise in time-division multiplexed interferometric sensor systems: Unwanted signal components in time-division multiplexed (TDM) systems may lead to crosstalk and noise if these pulses overlap with signal pulses from an interrogated sensor. The crosstalk and noise are dominated by interference between the signal pulses from the interrogated sensor and the unwanted signal components and can be greatly...

20060181712 - Highly-sensitive displacement-measuring optical device: Micron-scale displacement measurement devices having enhanced performance characteristics are disclosed. One embodiment of a micron-scale displacement measurement device includes a phase-sensitive reflective diffraction grating for reflecting a first portion of an incident light and transmitting a second portion of the incident light such that the second portion of the incident...

20060181713 - Optical metrology of a structure formed on a semiconductor wafer using optical pulses: A structure formed on a wafer can be examined by directing an incident pulse at the structure, the incident pulse being a sub-picosecond optical pulse. A diffraction pulse resulting from the incident pulse diffracting from the structure is measured. A characteristic of the profile of the structure is then determined...

20060181714 - Method for processing multiwavelength interferometric imaging data: Data from an imaging interferometer producing at least three interferometric images of a surface of an object using at least three different frequencies of light illuminating the surface of the object is processed through a software data processing pipeline architecture which uses data processed by a plurality of data processors...

20060181715 - Method and apparatus for measuring wafer thickness: A system for non-contact measurement of thickness of a test object. A laser beam is split into two identical directly opposed input beams. A calibration object of known thickness causes beams to be reflected from sides of the test object. Each reflected beam passes through sensing means including a pinhole...

20060176467 - Method and system for automatic gain control of sensors in time-of-flight systems: Performance of pixel detectors in a TOF imaging system is dynamically adjusted to improve dynamic range to maximize the number of pixel detectors that output valid data. The invention traverses the system-acquired z depth, the brightness, and the active brightness images, and assigns each pixel a quantized value. Quantization values...

20060176468 - Optical range finder with directed attention: An optical range finder for determining the distance comprises a focusing optical member that focuses emitted electromagnetic radiation upon a micro-mirror array. A processor controls the micro-mirror array to direct the focused electromagnetic radiation into a defined radiation pattern consistent with a lower resolution scan over a greater area and...

20060176469 - Method and system to correct motion blur and reduce signal transients in time-of-flight sensor systems: TOF system shutter time needed to acquire image data in a time-of-flight (TOF) system that acquires consecutive images is reduced, thus decreasing the time in which relative motion can occur. In one embodiment, pixel detectors are clocked with multi-phase signals and integration of the four signals occurs simultaneously to yield...

20060176470 - Laser capture microdissection method and apparatus: Systems and methods for laser capture microdissection are disclosed. One method incorporates the step of changing the beam diameter of the laser to adjust the size of the activated area of the transfer film and as a result, the size of the at least one microdissected portion of the sample...

20060176471 - Optical anlysis system: The optical analysis system (1) is arranged to determine an amplitude of a principal component of an optical signal. The optical analysis system (1) comprises a first detector (5) for detecting the optical signal weighted by a first spectral weighting function, and a second detector (6) for detecting the optical...

20060176472 - Polarization independent optical sampling arrangement: A system and method for providing polarization-independent optical sampling utilizes a differential group delay (DGD) element to split a sampling pulse source (SPS) into orthogonal components by controlling the state of polarization of the SPS at the DGD element input. The orthogonally-polarized sampling pulse components then each interact with the...

20060176473 - Survey system: [Solution Means] In a survey system made up of a target (60) and a surveying instrument (50) provided with an automatic collimator that automatically collimates the target, the target includes a guide light transmitter that emits guide light, an azimuth angle sensor (86) that detects a direction angle (θA, θB)...

20060176474 - Lateral surface sensor and imaging optical system therefor: The present invention relates to an imaging optical system for imaging the peripherally extending lateral surfaces (9) of an object (10) on to an imaging plane, comprising a reflecting element (6) and a first angle-reducing element (3, 17) which is arranged downstream of the reflecting element in the beam direction...

20060176475 - Method and device for inspecting products: Device for the inspection of products, whereby this device (1) comprises means to convey these products (2) along a track (4) in the shape of a product flow (5) extending in the width, characterised in that it comprises at least one scanner (9-10) for inspecting the products (2), whereby this...

20060176476 - Method, device and software for the optical inspection of a semi-conductor substrate: The invention relates to a method and a device for the optical inspection of the surface of semi-conductor substrate. An image (1) is captured on the surface of the semi-conductor substrate which is covered with a thin layer. Said image is made of a plurality of pixels having associated colour...

20060176477 - Apparatus and method for hard-dock a tester to a tiltable imager: An apparatus and method are disclosed for hard-docking of a tester head to a DUT, while permitting the angular alignment of a specimen to be inspected to the optical axis of an optical testing tool. In one example, a system for orthogonal alignment of a specimen to an optical axis...

20060176478 - Raman spectroscopy with stabilized multi-mode lasers: Methods and apparatus for analysis of a sample using Raman spectroscopy, which employs a multi-mode radiation source and a spectral filter, are disclosed. The source radiation produces a Raman spectrum consisting of scattered electromagnetic radiation that is separated into different wavelength components by a dispersion element. A detection array detects...

20060176479 - Monitoring molecular interactions using photon arrival-time interval distribution analysis: A method for analyzing/monitoring the properties of species that are labeled with fluorophores. A detector is used to detect photons emitted from species that are labeled with one or more fluorophores and located in a confocal detection volume. The arrival time of each of the photons is determined. The interval...

20060176480 - Scanning monochromator with direct drive grating: A novel scanning monochromator uses a PM stepper-motor to directly drive a diffraction grating. By employing interpolated encoder feedback in combination with the PM stepper-motor feedback, a resolution of over 250,000 pulsed steps is available for each revolution of the PM stepper-motor. This translates into more than 20,000 incremental angular-displacement...

20060176481 - End-column fluorescence detection for capillary array electrophoresis: A massively parallel electrophoresis system comprised of capillaries, with means for parallel imaging of the capillary ends. The capillaries are aligned with parallel longitudinal axes and a set of ends that are substantially coplanar. The electrophoresis system has a source of excitation radiation for illuminating the ends while an imaging...

20060176482 - Laser alignment apparatus: A laser alignment system includes a laser emitter for producing at least one fan beam. The laser alignment system further includes a target assembly with at least one CCD linear array. The CCD linear array is disposed to be impinged upon by a portion of the fan beam to provide...

20060176483 - Optical measuring device for test strips: An optical measuring device (10) for detecting the coloring of test fields of a test strip (12), which is to be wetted with a liquid for detecting substances in said liquid, whereupon the reflectivity of the test fields changes depending on the concentrations of the substances to be detected, comprising:...

20060176484 - Method and apparatus for measuring the color properties of fluids: An apparatus for inspection of fluids, particularly dispersions and tints, having a fluid analysis cell with a cavity enclosed by two light transmitting windows and having a spacer member fixedly positioned therebetween which provides a fluid analysis chamber of fixed pathlength where fluid flows by the windows and wherein the...

20060176485 - Apparatus and method for a slim format spectrometer: Disclosed is an apparatus and method for a compact, rugged, and inexpensive spectrometer that will make possible a range of new applications for optical spectroscopy including point-of-care medical devices, personal monitors, and ubiquitous environmental sensing. Embodiments of the disclosure include silicon photodetectors where incident light passes through a layer of...

20060176486 - Method and apparatus for optical detection for multi-phase combusion systems: A method for in-situ monitoring of an emission product includes transmitting a light, tuning the light to a first wavelength, receiving the light at a second location, varying the light from the first wavelength to a second wavelength during a first period, measuring a first absorption line and a first...

20060176487 - Process control monitors for interferometric modulators: Process control monitors are disclosed that are produced using at least some of the same process steps used to manufacture a MEMS device. Analysis of the process control monitors can provide information regarding properties of the MEMS device and components or sub-components in the device. This information can be used...

20060176488 - Diffusion tensor surface visualization: A computer implemented method for diffusion tensor visualization includes receiving diffusion weighted image slice data, segmenting a diffusion tensor field from the diffusion weighted image slice data to determine a three-dimensional triangular mesh, and determining a fractional anisotropy field and a principle diffusion direction field of the diffusion tensor field....

20060176489 - System, circuit and method for off-mode-peak operation of ring laser gyroscopes: A system, circuit and method are disclosed for operating an RLG off-mode-peak to avoid exciting undesirable transverse modes. An alternate PLC operating point can be used to bias the optical path length of the RLG to an appropriate side of an ideal integer number of wavelengths, and thus avoid exciting...

20060176490 - Temperature/thickness measuring apparatus, temperature/thickness measuring method, temperature/thickness measuring system, control system and control method: In the apparatus according to the present invention, light from a light source is split into measurement light and reference light, the optical path length of the reference light is altered and a plurality of measurement light interference waveforms resulting from the interference of measurement beams reflected at a measurement...

20060176491 - Device and method for non-contact scanning of contact lens mold geometry: This invention relates to an apparatus and method for measuring the geometry of a precision mold, particularly a non-linear mold used for ophthalmic lenses....

20060176492 - Positioning method for biochip: Disclosed is a positioning method for biochip spotting, which can spot the bio-probe precisely on the specific position of biochip substrate, and the steps thereof comprising: (a) providing reference points on a biochip substrate; (b) taking an image of the position of each reference point; (c) calculating a first spotting...

20060176493 - Method and apparatus for optically measuring the topography of nearly planar periodic structures: The present invention discloses a non-destructive method and apparatus for measuring the 3D topography of a sample having periodic microstructure deposited onto the surface, or deposited onto a film, or buried into the film or sample. In particular, the present invention relates to an optical system and method utilizing polarized...

20060176494 - Method and system for thin film characterization: A method and system are presented for optical measurements in multi-layer structures to determine the properties of at least some of the layers. The structure is patterned by removing layer materials within a measurement site of the structure from the top layer to the lowermost layer of interests Optical measurements...

20060170903 - Rangefinder: A range finder system for determining a range of an object. The system includes a source of laser radiation configured for transmitting a plurality of pulses, a first detector, a second detector, an optical arrangement configured for directing the pulses along an outgoing path and receiving the pulses reflected by...

20060170904 - System and method for optimizing heat management: Disclosed are heat management method, and system, and computer program product that include at least one optical strain gauge that is mounted on a printed board in proximity to an object being monitored for temperature changes. Power for controlling heat to the object is modified in response to changes in...

20060170905 - Common carrier for loading capillary vessels: A method of loading a fluid sample into a capillary vessel, the method comprising: attaching one or more capillary vessels to a common carrier, each capillary vessel having an opening and an interior volume sized for loading the capillary vessel by capillary action; positioning the common carrier so that the...

20060170906 - Systems and methods for illuminating a platen in a print scanner: Systems and methods for illuminating a platen are provided. A hybrid illumination system uses both diffusion and collimation to efficiently provide a flat, uniform illumination at a platen. One or more diffusers are disposed between the illumination source array and a collimating lens. An illumination system is provided which uses...

20060170907 - System for obtaining images in bright field and crossed polarization modes and chemical images in raman, luminescence and absorption modes: An integrated system including one or more light sources, at least one processor, an optical lens, a two-dimensional tunable filter, one or more two-dimensional array of detection elements and instructions and a method using the integrated system. The system includes a plurality of modes: a Raman mode, an absorption mode,...

20060170908 - Inclination detection methods and apparatus: Apparatus and methods for detecting inclination employ a point source of light from which light is emitted through a lens toward a reflective surface of a liquid contained in a vessel. Light reflected from the surface passes through the lens to form a defocused image of the point source on...

20060170909 - Fuel injectors with integral fiber optic pressure sensors and associated compensation and status monitoring devices: Fuel injectors (10) for internal combustion engines are modified and equipped with fiber optic fuel pressure sensors (12) and fiber optic combustion pressure sensors (14). The combustion pressure sensors (14) are located in separate channels (26) formed in the fuel injectors with the lower portion (22) of the channels leading...

20060170910 - Automatic optical inspection using multiple objectives: Apparatus and techniques for automated optical inspection (AOI) utilizing image scanning modules with multiple objectives for each camera are provided. A scanning mechanism includes optical components to sequentially steer optical signals from each of the multiple objectives to the corresponding camera....

20060170911 - Image pick-up inspection equipment and method: Even when component parts lap up and down spatially on the surface of a semiconductor device, without being influenced by an upper component, an image pick-up and inspection of a lower component is conducted. Having objective lens system opposing the imaged surface of semiconductor device, and imaging lens system arranged...

20060170913 - Garment processing with biological sanitization and inspection procedures: Biological inspection procedures and surface sanitization procedures are incorporated with a garment providing service to look for and monitor the presence of microbes, such as bacteria in particular, and to eliminate such microbes within the garment service. Biological inspection procedures can be conducted on the garments themselves, or any surface...

20060170912 - Method and apparatus for sorting cells: Apparatus for sorting and orienting sperm cells has a pair or walls in confronting relationship forming a flow chamber having inlet, a downstream outlet, and intermediate detector region. The inlet receives first and second spaced apart streams of input fluid and a third stream of sample fluid containing the cells...

20060170915 - Optical measurement substrate and method of manufacturing the same: A masking pattern is performed on a substrate by using materials that are weakly adhered to the substrate, and then the masked substrate is etched. Since the mask is weakly adhered to the substrate, the mask is peeled off from the surface of the substrate, so that a gap is...

20060170914 - Specific component measuring method by spectral measurement: The present invention discloses a method for measuring an amount of an objective component to be measured in a sample, which comprises; preventing an electric charge in an atmosphere in a photometry chamber from transferring to the surface of a solution which generates light due to an energy variation of...

20060170916 - Method and apparatus for variable-field illumination: The disclosure relates to identifying one or more regions of interest within a broader field of view of a dynamic sample using one or more optical components and illuminating photons. Once the region of interest is identified within a section of the broader field of view, chemical information in the...

20060170917 - Use of free-space coupling between laser assembly, optical probe head assembly, spectrometer assembly and/or other optical elements for portable optical applications such as raman instruments: A compact, lightweight, portable optical assembly comprising: a platform; and a plurality of optical elements mounted to the platform; wherein the plurality of optical elements are optically connected to one another with free-space couplings so as to form an optical circuit; and further wherein the platform is sufficiently mechanically robust...

20060170918 - Detection apparatus and detection method for plasmon resonance and fluorescence: A plurality of different ligands are fixed on a metal array including a plurality of metal films formed on a substrate and are irradiated with light from a rear surface of the substrate to measure surface plasmon resonance and fluorescence based on evanescent wave at the same time, thus permitting...

20060170919 - Optical spectrum analyzer: An optical spectrum analyzer measures to-be-measured light while carrying out calibration processing for correcting wavelength information of spectrum data of the to-be-measured light by a wavelength information correction device through a storage device based on the spectrum data of reference light that is obtained by causing the reference light whose...

20060170920 - Refractive-diffractive spectrometer: A diffraction grating and a prism with the appropriate characteristics are employed to provide a combined dispersive characteristic that is substantially linear over the visible spectrum. Radiation from the grating and prism is collimated by a lens towards a detector array. The grating or a telecentric stop between the grating...

20060170921 - Spectroscopic polarimetry: To effectively reduce a measurement error in a parameter indicating a state of spectroscopic polarization generated by variations in retardation of a retarder due to a temperature change or other factors, while holding a variety of properties of a channeled spectroscopic polarimeter. By noting that reference phase functions φ1(σ) and...

20060170922 - Method and apparatus for a microscope image selector: The disclosure generally relates to a multimode imaging apparatus for simultaneously obtaining multiple wavelength-discriminative spectral images of a sample. In one embodiment, the apparatus includes an image selector having a rotator assembly, the rotator assembly housing a first plurality of optical components, the image selector adapted to receive a illuminating...

20060170923 - Method and apparatus for determining a color and brightness of an led in a printed circuit board: A method and apparatus for determining a color and brightness of an LED includes a sensor having a plurality of filters and an output probe connected to the sensor, the output probe providing a color output and a brightness output in a single signal. The sensor may further include an...

20060170924 - Optimized standard manual inspection environment for obtaining accurate visible contaminating particle inspection data: A new technology is established by the present invention to assist in the development of more reliable human method for the inspection of pharmaceutical and critical products. The present invention provides the industry with a standardized illumination environment in which the illumination conditions remain constant over extended periods of time....

20060170925 - Biomolecular sensor system utilizing a transverse propagation wave of surface plasmon resonance (spr): A biomolecular sensor system utilizing a transverse propagation wave of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is described. The system comprises: a substrate; a dielectric layer, having a groove therein and standing on top of the substrate; a sensing film layer, sitting at the groove; a pair of prism devices, each resting...

20060170927 - Long-range surface plasmon resonance device utilizing nano-scale porous dielectric and method of fabricating the same: A surface plasmon resonance device includes a transparent substrate, a porous dielectric layer formed on a top surface of the transparent substrate, a thin metal layer formed on the porous dielectric layer, and a prism attached on a bottom surface of the transparent layer....

20060170926 - Using a polaron interaction zone as an interface to integrate a plasmon layer and a semiconductor detector: An integrated plasmon detector includes a top layer of material adapted to generate a plasmon when excited by a beam of light incident onto a surface of the top layer, an interface layer joined to the top layer opposite from the surface of the top layer and adapted to slow...

20060170928 - Masila's cancer detector based on optical analysis of body fluids: An apparatus for optical analysis of body fluids for cancer detection comprising: a light source for generating light rays,(incoherent lamp or laser) an excitation wavelength determination means, a grating for receiving optical rays from the body fluids, said optical rays being received at right angles to the optical rays incident...

20060170929 - Methods and systems for improving optical flatness in a path length control driver: A piezoelectric transducer is described that is configured for use within a path length control apparatus of an optical device. The transducer comprises at least one void formed within a central region of the piezoelectric transducer, the one void or alternatively, the multiple voids, utilized at least in part to...

20060170930 - Simultaneous beam-focus and coherence-gate tracking for real-time optical coherence tomography: Method and apparatus for achieving dynamic focus tracking during real-time optical coherence tomography (OCT) by simultaneously implementing geometric focus tracking (GFT) and coherence gate tracking (CGT). GFT tracking involves changing a position of the focal point of the OCT probe in the sample during scanning. Preferably, the focal point is...

20060170931 - Biochemical sensors with micro-resonators: A biochemical sensor. The biochemical sensor includes a microcavity resonator including a sensing element defining a closed loop waveguide. The biochemical sensor is operable to detect a measurand by measuring a resonance shift in the microcavity resonator....

20060170932 - Measuring apparatus and measuring method: A measuring apparatus is disclosed which includes an interferometer for measuring a wavefront of light transmitted through a test object by interference between light under test passed through the test object and reference light, and measures a polarization characteristic of the test object. The measuring apparatus has a measuring unit...

20060170933 - Specific density detector with electro mechanical actuator and improved mirror: An object is placed at a particular distance away from the nonreflecting side of a mirror, such that the gravitational force of the object affects the mirror. A laser is then pointed at the opposite, reflecting side of the mirror, thereby itself reflecting off the mirror and going back in...

20060170934 - Sensing a dimensional change in a surface: Determining a dimensional change in a surface of an object is described. At a first time, a first image of the surface is acquired at a first spatial window thereon having a first known position relative to a frame of reference. At a second time, a second image of the...