Optics: measuring and testing inventions 10/07

20070247611 - Camera module: A plurality of lenses (1a-1d) of a lens module (1), a plurality of wavelength selection regions (2a-2d) each having at least one optical filter, and a plurality of imaging regions (4a-4d) are placed in one-to-one correspondence. At least two of the plurality of wavelength selection regions transmit light in at... Agent: Hamre, Schumann, Mueller & Larson P.C.

20070247612 - System and method for improving lidar data fidelity using pixel-aligned lidar/electro-optic data: A lidar and digital camera system collect data and generate a three-dimensional image. A lidar generates a laser beam to form a lidar shot and to receive a reflected laser beam to provide range data. A digital camera includes an array of pixels to receive optical radiation and provide electro-optical... Agent: John R. Thompson Stoel Rives LLP

20070247613 - Fiber optic accelerometer: An optical acceleration sensor includes a target having a reflective portion and a non-reflective portion. A conveyor causes light to be irradiated on the target. A receiver receives light from the target. An inertial mass is coupled to at least one of the conveyor and the receiver, wherein movement of... Agent: Muirhead And Saturnelli, LLC

20070247614 - System for 2-d and 3-d vision inspection: There is disclosed an inspection system that combines 2-D inspection and 3-D inspection of the components of an electronic device into one compact module. The inspection system of the present invention comprises a 2-D image acquisition assembly for inspecting 2-D criteria of the components, a 3-D image acquisition assembly for... Agent: Lawrence Y.d. Ho & Associates Pte Ltd

20070247615 - Camera based six degree-of-freedom target measuring and target tracking device with rotatable mirror: An embodiment may comprise a camera based target coordinate measuring system or apparatus for use in measuring the position of objects in manner that preserves a high level of accuracy. This high level of measurement accuracy is usually only associated with more expensive laser based devices. Many different arrangements are... Agent: Cantor Colburn, LLP

20070247616 - Method for inspecting defect and apparatus for inspecting defect: The present invention is an apparatus for inspecting foreign particles/defects, comprises an illumination optical system, a detection optical system, a shielding unit which is provided in said detection optical system to selectively shield diffracted light pattern coming from circuit pattern existing on an inspection object and an arithmetic processing system,... Agent: Antonelli, Terry, Stout & Kraus, LLP

20070247617 - Surface inspection by scattered light detection using dithered illumination spot: An apparatus for detecting defects on a disk surface includes a light source that generates a light beam and an acoustic-optic deflector that continuously dithers the light beam transmitted by the light source back and forth, producing a dithered output beam. The apparatus also includes at least one lens that... Agent: Foley & Lardner

20070247618 - Apparatus and method for inspecting microstructures in reflected or transmitted infrared light: Previously used examination devices and methods mostly operate with reflected visible or UV light to analyze microstructured samples of a wafer (38), for example. The aim of the invention is to increase the possible uses of said devices, i.e. particularly in order to represent structural details, e.g. of wafers that... Agent: Houston Eliseeva

20070247619 - Inspecting system for color filters: An inspecting system (100) includes a stage (10), a white light source (20), a CCD camera (40), a laser diode assembly (60), at least one beam splitter (36, 34), a photo diode (50), and an oscilloscope (52). The white light source emits a white light (22) to illuminate a color... Agent: PCe Industry, Inc. Att. Cheng-ju Chiang Jeffrey T. Knapp

20070247620 - Apparatus and method for imaging with surface enhanced coherent anti-stokes raman scattering (secars): The embodiments of the invention are directed to improved SERS and SECARS devices and method of manufacturing and using the same. In one embodiment of the invention, a device having at least one laser, a sample stage and a detector, wherein the sample stage is moveable and has as SERS... Agent: Darby & Darby P.C.

20070247621 - Optical emission analysis apparatus: An optical emission analysis apparatus includes a discharge gap, an ignitor circuit, and a main discharge power supply. The ignitor circuit includes an ignition transformer, a pair of current control devices, and an excitation power supply. On a secondary coil of the ignition transformer, the discharge gap and the main... Agent: J C Patents, Inc.

20070247622 - Polarization imaging: A system and method for inspection a substrate for various defects is herein disclosed. Polarizing filters are used to improve the contrast of polarization dependent defects such as defocus and exposure defects, while retaining the same sensitivity to polarization independent defects, such as pits, voids, cracks, chips and particles.... Agent: Dicke Billig & Czaja, PLLC Attn: Christopher Mclaughlin

20070247623 - Polarization measuring devices, ellipsometers and polarization measuring methods: A polarization measuring device includes a diffraction grating and a detector. The diffraction grating is configured to diffract incident light to observe the polarization state of the light. The detector is configured to receive the light diffracted by the diffraction grating and display the polarization state of the light.... Agent: Harness, Dickey & Pierce, P.L.C

20070247624 - Spectroscopic ellipsometers: The present invention discloses an optical measurement and/or inspection device that, in one application, may be used for inspection of semiconductor devices. A method is disclosed for extracting information of a device-under-test for an ellipsometer, comprising the steps: providing a plurality of incoming polarized beams using a plurality of polarizers,... Agent: Emil Chang Law Offices Of Emil Chang

20070247625 - Illuminated aiming device for an observation instrument: An illuminated aiming device for an observation instrument comprises a reticle plate, an aiming mark provided at the reticle plate, and a light source directed onto the aiming mark via a light guide. The light guide is configured as a wave guide within the reticle plate.... Agent: Harness, Dickey & Pierce, P.L.C

20070247626 - Optical detection for low optical density web: Apparatus for buffering of a web feed system using feedback based on the amount, or extent, of loop of the web within a buffering module. The extent of the loop is measured optically. An opaque extensor is inserted within the loop to mark the extent of the loop so as... Agent: Hewlett Packard Company

20070247627 - Detection and anaylsis of optical sensing probes: The present invention relates to the detection of optical sensors by means of measurement of information relative to the signal intensity and signal modulation phase shift. The proposed method employs the use of CMOS and/or CCD imager and illuminations with different wavelengths. The system is able realize a contactless measurement... Agent: Cantor Colburn, LLP

20070247628 - Instrumentation and method adapted for optical measurement of an amplified luminescent proximity homogeneous assay: The present invention relates generally to the field of biochemical laboratory instrumentation for different applications of measuring properties of samples on microtitration plates and corresponding sample supports. An optical measurement instrumentation is provided, a sample is activated and the emission is detected, wherein between the activation and detection phases of... Agent: Young & Thompson

20070247629 - Digital optical method (dom™) and system for determining opacity: Photography is employed to objectively quantify opacity of fluids such as smoke plumes and dust via a method termed the Digital Optical Method (DOM™). The DOM™ quantifies the ratio of radiance values by means of a camera response curve obtained using objective measures. The radiance ratios are then used to... Agent: Humphreys Engineer Center Support Activity Attn: Cehec-oc

20070247630 - Confocal scanning holography microscope: A confocal scanning holography microscope for use with a suitably selected detector for providing three dimensional information on the state of an object. The microscope has a coherent wavelength source for producing a coherent beam, scanning means for moving said coherent beam in a suitably selected pattern, and means for... Agent: Klarquist Sparkman, LLP

20070247631 - Fibre optic sensor method and apparatus: This invention uses an interferometric fibre optic sensor, particularly a Sagnac or Michelson interferometer, in a first fibre to monitor a sensing length of the first fibre and to detect disturbances. Signals indicating disturbances are classified as being of interest or not of interest, depending on predetermined criteria. Disturbances of... Agent: Blake, Cassels & Graydon, LLP

20070247632 - Heterodyne interferometer: A heterodyne interferometer having two interferometer arms and one optical modulator for changing the frequency of a radiation conducted via one interferometer arm and having a control device for setting the frequency change of the radiation and a detector device for analyzing the interfered output radiation. The amplitude of an... Agent: Kenyon & Kenyon LLP

20070247633 - Laminated wave plate and optical pickup device using the same: [Means to Solve the Problem] A laminated wave plate of the present invention includes a first wave plate having a phase difference of Γ1 and a second wave plate having a phase difference of Γ2 with respect to a wavelength λ, the first wave plate and the second wave plate... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20070247634 - Apparatus and method for monitoring trench profiles and for spectrometrologic analysis: An apparatus for monitoring a trench profile of a substrate includes a radiation-emitting unit for irradiating the substrate with infrared radiation. The intensity and/or polarization state of the infrared radiation reflected from the substrate is measured at a multitude of measuring frequencies. An analyzing unit determines the respective reflectance and... Agent: Edell, Shapiro & Finnan, LLC

20070247635 - Polarization interference microscope: The present invention relates to a polarization interference microscope (1) for imaging objects (5). The polarization interference microscope (1) comprises a light source (2), an illumination beam path (6), an imaging beam path (7) and an objective (4). The illumination beam path (6) extends from the light source (2) to... Agent: Foley And Lardner LLP Suite 500

20070247636 - Image forming apparatus and image forming method: An image forming apparatus which can form an even image while maintaining high resolution. A speckle pattern detecting unit detects a speckle pattern on a surface of a photosensitive drum. A motor drive circuit controls the rotational speed of the photosensitive drum based on the detected speckle pattern on the... Agent: Rossi, Kimms & Mcdowell LLP.

20070247637 - Interferometry method for ellipsometry, reflectometry, and scatterometry measurements, including characterization of thin film structures: A method including: imaging test light emerging from a test object over a range of angles to interfere with reference light on a detector, wherein the test and reference light are derived from a common source; for each of the angles, simultaneously varying an optical path length difference from the... Agent: Fish & Richardson PC

20070247638 - Multi-object wavefront sensor with spatial filtering: The present invention relates to an adaptive optics sensor intended for simultaneous detection of several wave fronts on a common camera target. The sensor is intended for use in connection with multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO), where several wave front measurements are needed at the same time. The sensor includes a... Agent: Lynn E Barber

20070247639 - Device and method for optical precision measurement: A device and method of optical precision measurement of a component. In the method, an optical probe is provided at a location relative to the component (120) and a source beam directed to the component (122). Deviation is detected (124) and stored in a component characteristic dataset (126). The optical... Agent: Philips Intellectual Property & Standards

20070247640 - Exposure apparatus, exposure method and device manufacturing method, and surface shape detection unit: In subroutine 201 and step 205, a best image-forming plane of a projection optical system and an offset component of a multipoint AF system are detected as calibration information. During measurement of a wafer alignment mark by an alignment system in step 215, the multipoint AF system detects information related... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20070242258 - Device for measuring the distance to far-off objects and close objects: A device for measuring the distances (d) to far-off objects (8) and close objects by emitting modulated laser beams (1) that are reflected on the objects. The device includes an objective (2), structure(s) (12, 36, 38, 39, 40) for selecting beams, and a receiver (7). Beams are bundled by the... Agent: Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck, P.C.

20070242259 - Three-dimensional pseudo-image presenting apparatus, method therefor and three-dimensional pseudo-image presenting system: A presentation character member is rotated on its axis of rotation while being illuminated with light. The presentation character member has a presentation character which is rotated on the axis of rotation of the presentation character member. The presentation character is symmetrical or asymmetrical with respect to a predetermined axis... Agent: Antonelli, Terry, Stout & Kraus, LLP

20070242260 - Microfabricated tools for manipulation of small samples: Microfabricated tools useful for manipulating small, delicate samples are formed from thin plastic films. The films have a small thickness (preferably 5 to 50 micrometers and typically 10 micrometers) and small lateral dimensions (preferably 2 mm or less and typically 0.1 to 1 mm) so that they are reasonably flexible,... Agent: Jones, Tullar & Cooper, P.C.

20070242261 - Aerosol measurement by dilution and particle counting: The present invention includes an apparatus for aerosol measurement having a high concentration of particles the apparatus comprising a diluter for diluting the concentration of particles in a sample aerosol stream to form a diluted aerosol stream, and a sensor for detecting the particles in the diluted aerosol stream by... Agent: Westman Champlin & Kelly, P.A.

20070242262 - Combined bragg grating wavelength interrogator and brillouin backscattering measuring instrument: A method and apparatus sense attributes of reflected signals in an optical sensing system. In one embodiment, a method for sensing in an optical sensing system comprising an interrogator coupled to a Bragg grating sensor by an optical cable includes the steps of producing a first optical signal, coupling the... Agent: Patterson & Sheridan, L.L.P.

20070242263 - Extracting ordinary and extraordinary optical characteristics for critical dimension measurement of anisotropic materials: Methods and apparatus for measuring a critical dimension of an optically-anisotropic feature, including extracting a number of values each descriptive of the optically-anisotropic feature, including values corresponding to ordinary and extraordinary measurements of one or more optical characteristics of the optically-anisotropic feature. The optical characteristics can include the index of... Agent: Haynes And Boone, LLP

20070242264 - Optical measuring device: An optical measuring device according to the present invention includes: a plane mirror (3), which has a central opening that functions as either a light entering window or a light source fitting hole (5) and an observation window 6′ that enables a photodetector (6) to take measurements; and an integrating... Agent: Mark D. Saralino (mei) Renner, Otto, Boisselle & Sklar, LLP

20070242265 - Borehole imaging: Apparatus for imaging the wall of a borehole drilled through an underground formation, comprising: a light source; an optical detector device such as a CCD camera; a sensor head including a window for application against the wall of the borehole, the light source being connected to the sensor head so... Agent: Schlumberger Oilfield Services

20070242266 - Cavity ring-down spectrometer having mirror isolation: A cavity ring-down spectrometer having a light-conveying structure, a mirror and an isolator. The structure may form a resonator cavity, and the resonator cavity may include a sample sub-cavity and a mirror sub-cavity. A preconcentrator medium may be within a sample sub-cavity, and the medium may adsorb a sample substance... Agent: Honeywell International Inc.

20070242267 - Optical focusing devices: The present invention discloses an optical measurement and/or inspection device that, in one application, may be used for inspection of semiconductor devices. It comprises a light source for providing light rays; a half-parabolic-shaped reflector having an inner reflecting surface, where the reflector having a focal point and an axis of... Agent: Emil Chang Law Offices Of Emil Chang

20070242268 - Spectral analytical unit with a diffraction grating: A spectral analytical unit for acting on a parallel light bundle having different wavelengths. The spectral analytical unit includes a diffraction grating on which the light bundle falls, the diffraction grating splitting the different wavelengths through diffraction in first spectral directions defining a light bundle diffraction order 1 without recycle,... Agent: Jacobson Holman PLLC

20070242269 - Methods and apparatus for determining characteristics of particles: An instrument for measuring the size distribution of a particle sample by counting and classifying particles into selected size ranges. The particle concentration is reduced to the level where the probability of measuring scattering from multiple particles at one time is reduced to an acceptable level. A light beam is... Agent: William H. Eilberg

20070242270 - Determining mode spectra for principal states of polarization: For determining mode spectra of an optical property of a device under test (DUT) in dependence on a spectral parameter, with the mode spectra corresponding to the device's principal states of polarization (PSPs), minimum and maximum envelope values are determined for the optical property, or other measured values from which... Agent: Perman & Green

20070242272 - Pattern transfer apparatus, imprint apparatus, and pattern transfer method: A pattern transfer method for transferring an imprinting pattern formed on a mold provided with an alignment mark onto a substrate provided with an alignment mark or a resin material interposed between the substrate and the mold includes a first step for obtaining a first image by disposing the alignment... Agent: Fitzpatrick Cella Harper & Scinto

20070242271 - Infrared interferometric-spatial-phase imaging using backside wafer marks: An interferometric-spatial-phase imaging (ISPI) system includes a substrate wafer. An alignment configuration is permanently embedded in the substrate wafer. The alignment configuration uses a global coordinate reference system by providing a plurality of global reference marks that encompass up to the entire substrate wafer. A plurality of alignment markings is... Agent: Gauthier & Connors, LLP

20070242273 - Spectroscopic device: The invention proposes a spectroscopic device and a spectroscopic method, comprising a tubular measuring cell, in particular, for absorption spectroscopy of contaminated carbon dioxide, wherein the measuring cell is stabilized using at least one tube which is disposed parallel to the direction of extension of the measuring cell and is... Agent: Patentanwaelte Lichti + Partner Gbr

20070242274 - Apparatus and method for investigating a sample: An apparatus for investigating a sample comprising: a source of beam radiation; a detector for detecting a beam of radiation reflected by the sample and an optical subsystem for manipulating the beam between source and detector wherein the optical subsystem comprises a first optical element arranged in use to angularly... Agent: Dickstein Shapiro LLP

20070242275 - Multigas monitoring and detection system: A spectroscopic detection system is described for monitoring ambient air for toxic chemical substances. The system can be a compact, portable multiple gas analyzer capable of detecting and discriminating a broad range of chemical constituents including various nerve and blister agents as well as toxic industrial chemicals at low or... Agent: Proskauer Rose LLP

20070242276 - Optical resonator gyro with external cavity beam generator: Methods and apparatus are provided for determining the rotational rate of an optical gyro. An optical gyro comprises at least one substrate, a multi-frequency light source (MFLS) mounted on the substrate, and a resonator coupled to the MFLS. The MFLS is configured to produce a first light beam having a... Agent: Honeywell International Inc.

20070242277 - Optical navigation in relation to transparent objects: An optical navigation system includes an illumination system, an image sensor, and a processing system. The illumination system directs a beam of output light toward an object so that a first portion of the output light beam reflects off the object front surface to form a first reflected light beam... Agent: Agilent Technologies Inc.

20070242278 - Size difference measuring method and size difference measuring apparatus: A size difference measuring method comprising: an optical interference measuring step without wringing, of obtaining, through simultaneous measurement of interference fringes, size information relating to the end standards which are set between interferometers, by an optical interferometer without wringing that comprises: one light emitter that emits coherent light; a beam... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20070242279 - Device and method for the contactless measurement of at least one curved surface: A device and a method for the contactless measurement of at least one curved surface. The device comprises at least one light source for generating light with a continuous spectrum, and a light exit face assigned to the light source. It furthermore has at least one measurement head having an... Agent: Factor & Lake, Ltd.

20070242280 - Digitizer adapter: A method of scanning an object includes the steps of: providing a digitizer adapter having at least three markers disposed along a target surface thereof, wherein the digitizer adapter includes a spherical member disposed a predetermined distance at its center point to each of the at least three markers; securing... Agent: Gifford, Krass, Sprinkle, Anderson & Citkowski, P.C.

20070242281 - Wafer edge with light sensor: An apparatus for detecting the presence of a substrate that is carried by an end effector of a substrate handling assembly positioned within a substrate processing system comprises a receiving member that is coupled to an end effector and a light sensor that is operatively coupled to the receiving member... Agent: Knobbe, Martens, Olsen & Bear LLP

20070236679 - Phase ranging apparatus and method of phase ranging: A distance measurement apparatus includes a first and a second optical signal producing units, an optical mixing unit, an electric mixing unit and a processing unit. The first optical signal producing unit includes a first emitting unit to emit a first beam based on a first modulated signal to a... Agent: The Webb Law Firm, P.C.

20070236681 - Asymmetric capillary for capillary-flow cytometers: The present invention provides improved capillaries that lead to increased resolution in conventional capillary-flow cytometers. The cross-sectional shape of capillaries made according to the present invention lack a center of symmetry. In some embodiments, capillaries have inner side walls that are tilted at angles with respect to the collection-system optical... Agent: Leydig Voit & Mayer, Ltd

20070236677 - Geo-location with laser and sensor system: Methods and apparatus for determining geo-locations. The geo-location system of one embodiment includes two or more angle determination devices and a location determination device. Each angle determination device is mounted on top of a tower. The towers are positioned a distance from each other. Each angle determination device is adapted... Agent: Honeywell International Inc.

20070236678 - Method of scanning a scene and corresponding scanning device: The present invention provides devices and methods for multi-dimensional scanning of a scene. In particular, this invention provides scanning devices and methods employing controllable light beam scanning devices capable of sending a light beam onto a scene, and of receiving corresponding light returned from the scene, and controllers capable of... Agent: Cooper & Dunham, LLP

20070236680 - Calibration system for sawmill scanning systems: The method for calibration of a single point laser system used in a measuring system for wood boards in a sawmill includes the steps of storing two orthogonal dimensions of a calibration bar, the values of the two dimensions being different from each other; placing the calibration bar within the... Agent: Jensen + Puntigam, P.s.

20070236682 - Cytometer having telecentric optics: A mechanism for moving and positioning a light source so that its light impinges a target as it moves on or off axis of an optical system. A detector may receive scattered light at a same position whether the light impinging the target is on or off axis due to,... Agent: Honeywell International Inc.

20070236683 - Reflection-testing device and method for use thereof: A reflection-testing device for testing for unwanted reflections in a lens module (12) includes a plurality of light sources (18) and an image capturer (16). The plurality of light sources is provided around the top end of the lens module, and the image capturer is provided near the other end... Agent: PCe Industry, Inc. Att. Cheng-ju Chiang Jeffrey T. Knapp

20070236684 - Reflection-testing device and method for use thereof: A reflection-testing device for reflection testing of a lens module (12) includes a light source (18), which can emit light in an annular pattern, and an image capturer (16). The light source is provided around the top end of the lens module, and the image capturer is provided near the... Agent: PCe Industry, Inc. Att. Cheng-ju Chiang Jeffrey T. Knapp

20070236685 - Optical tilt sensor: An optoelectronic device comprising an optical source and an optical detector, the optical source being adapted for emitting an optical beam for subsequent reflection towards the optical detector, the optical detector being adapted for receiving the optical beam and comprises a plurality of discrete optical detection regions for converting an... Agent: Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney PC

20070236686 - Rubbing angle-measuring equipment, and manufacturing methods of liquid crystal display device and optical film: A rubbing angle measuring equipment of the invention includes an light source unit, a measuring optical system, an imaging means, and an image evaluation means in which the measuring optical system is adapted such that a light from the light source unit passes by way of an illumination optical system... Agent: Antonelli, Terry, Stout & Kraus, LLP

20070236687 - Microscope: A focus error detecting optical system has an optical parameter which makes a focus lock-in range by a focus error signal be a value capable of detecting focus on a front surface of a cover glass and focus on aback surface thereof separately. A control section, based on the focus... Agent: Sughrue-265550

20070236689 - Method and its apparatus for detecting defects: In the present invention, to make corrective matching thereof, it is designed as follows; position effect of defects coordinates, which are output from an inspection apparatus, is allowed, coordinates of inspected data are mutually corrected, and a state of coincidence or non-coincidence among a plurality sets of inspected data is... Agent: Antonelli, Terry, Stout & Kraus, LLP

20070236688 - Method for mapping geometrical features with opto-electronic arrays: A method for inspecting a surface of an object, including scanning the surface using an array of opto-electronic sensors, obtaining a reflected light signal from a location on the surface, combining the light signals to form a representation of geometrical features of the surface, and processing the representation to obtain... Agent: Schlumberger Reservoir Completions

20070236690 - Method and apparatus for inspecting samples, and method for manufacturing devices using method and apparatus for inspecting samples: A method for alignment of a chip in a substrate surface inspection is provided, in which a surface of a substrate including a chip formed therein is inspected by using a beam. The method is characterized in comprising: a step of placing the substrate so that the chip is positioned... Agent: Westerman, Hattori, Daniels & Adrian, LLP

20070236691 - Exposure apparatus inspection method and exposure apparatus: An inspection method for an exposure apparatus for illuminating a photomask on a first installation member by an illumination optical system, and for projecting an image of a pattern of the photomask onto a substrate on a second installation member through a projection optical system, the inspection method comprises disposing... Agent: Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP

20070236692 - Spectrometric measuring probe and method for recalibrating the same: The present invention is directed to an arrangement for measuring the diffuse reflection of samples and to a method for the internal recalibration of the measuring head. According to the invention, the spectrometric measuring head with means for recalibration comprises a housing which is provided with a window and which... Agent: Reed Smith, LLP Attn: Patent Records Department

20070236693 - Calibration of optical patternator spray parameter measurements: The present invention provides a method of calibrating a fuel nozzle patternation system comprising steps of testing a master nozzle having desired spray characteristics in the system to determine a virtual origin of the system and then using the virtual origin to replace a fixed spatial origin of the system... Agent: Ogilvy Renault LLP (pwc)

20070236694 - 3-dimensional imaging by acoustic warping and defocusing: The present invention relates to a system for three-dimensional (3-D) acoustic imaging of a scattering structure using information from a two-dimensional (2-D) image. The system uses a characterized sensor array to emit a signal from the sensor array into an object of interest to generate at least one 2-D representation... Agent: Tope-mckay & Associates

20070236695 - Registration method and apparatus therefor: The present invention relates to a method to determine a position of at least one mark provided on a substrate, comprising the actions of: detecting a first mark on said substrate by using a first detector, detecting a first set of marks comprising at least a second mark on said... Agent: Harness, Dickey & Pierce, P.L.C

20070236696 - Visual inspection apparatus: A beam emitted from a light source 58 is converted into a line-shaped collimated beam by a lens 59. The line-shaped collimated beam reaches a beam splitter 60. The beam splitter 60 reflects a half of the incident beam. The reflected beam vertically reaches a line-shaped area of a front... Agent: Rader Fishman & Grauer PLLC

20070236697 - Compact, hand-held raman spectrometer microsystem on a chip: An integrated spectrometer instrument, including an optical source formed on a chip, the optical source configured to generate an incident optical beam upon a sample to be measured. Collection optics formed on the chip are configured to receive a scattered optical beam from the sample, and filtering optics formed on... Agent: General Electric Company Global Research

20070236698 - Signal analysis using multi-mode, common-path interferometry: A light scattering sensing system and method. In one embodiment, the system includes a sample branch configured to collect light signals backscattered from scattering centers contained in a coherence volume of a medium under evaluation, the sample branch including a multi-mode optical waveguide. In one embodiment, the method includes radiating... Agent: Thomas, Kayden, Horstemeyer & Risley, LLP

20070236699 - Optical tomography method & device: A method for optical tomography is adapted to measure a medium, and includes the following steps: (A) generating a two-frequency mutually correlated low-coherence beam, an optical path difference of the beam being smaller than a coherence length; (B) focusing the beam on different depth positions of the medium such that... Agent: Gallagher & Lathrop, A Professional Corporation

20070236700 - Methods, arrangements and systems for polarization-sensitive optical frequency domain imaging of a sample: Arrangements and methods are provided for obtaining data associated with a sample. For example, at least one first electro-magnetic radiation can be provided to a sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation can be provided to a reference (e.g., a non-reflective reference). A frequency of such radiation(s) can repetitively... Agent: Dorsey & Whitney LLP Intellectual Property Department

20070236701 - Geometric measurement system and method of measuring a geometric characteristic of an object: A geometric measurement system is adapted to precisely measure one or more surfaces of objects such as corneas, molds, contact lenses in molds, contact lenses, or other objects in a fixture. The geometric measurement system can employ one or more of three possible methods of measurement: Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensing with... Agent: Volentine & Whitt PLLC

20070236702 - Geometric measurement system and method of measuring a geometric characteristic of an object: A geometric measurement system is adapted to precisely measure one or more surfaces of objects such as corneas, molds, contact lenses in molds, contact lenses, or other objects in a fixture. The geometric measurement system can employ one or more of three possible methods of measurement: Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensing with... Agent: Volentine & Whitt PLLC

20070236703 - Geometric measurement system and method of measuring a geometric characteristic of an object: A geometric measurement system is adapted to precisely measure one or more surfaces of objects such as corneas, molds, contact lenses in molds, contact lenses, or other objects in a fixture. The geometric measurement system can employ one or more of three possible methods of measurement: Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensing with... Agent: Volentine & Whitt PLLC

20070236704 - Optical displacement sensor comprising a wavelength-tunable optical source: An optical displacement sensor is disclosed that provides a optical displacement sensor that includes a optically-resonant cavity tuned to an operating wavelength without some of the disadvantages for doing so in the prior art. An embodiment of the present invention tunes an operating wavelength used with a Fabry-Perot interferometer to... Agent: Demont & Breyer, LLC

20070236705 - Azimuthal scanning of a structure formed on a semiconductor wafer: A structure formed on a semiconductor wafer is examined by obtaining measurements of cross polarization components of diffraction beams, which were obtained from scanning an incident beam over a range of azimuth angles to obtain an azimuthal scan. A zero azimuth position is determined based on the azimuthal scan. The... Agent: Morrison & Foerster LLP

20070229797 - Distance measuring apparatus and method: A distance measuring apparatus and method in which a target subject is detected from image data obtained through imaging, the distance to the object is calculated based on the size of the target subject, and the distance to the target subject is further measured using a distance measuring sensor. Then,... Agent: Birch Stewart Kolasch & Birch

20070229800 - Method and apparatus for analyzing brominated compounds: Analysis is carried out by the steps of putting a sample of an inflammable material on a support formed of a heat resistant material; heating the sample; depositing a combustion gas containing initial evaporation components evaporated and scattered from the sample in an early stage of a combustion process of... Agent: Westerman, Hattori, Daniels & Adrian, LLP

20070229796 - Optical range finder: An optical range finder measuring distance to a target and capturing the image of the target simultaneously is provided. The optical range finder includes an emitting system emitting a pulse toward the target and a receiving system receiving the pulse reflected from the target, to calculate the distance there between.... Agent: Thomas, Kayden, Horstemeyer & Risley, LLP

20070229798 - Optical device for measuring the displacement velocity of a first moving element with respect to a second element: An optical device for measuring the displacement velocity of a first movable element in relation to a second element which is fixed to one of said elements and comprises two lasers transmitting two incident beams towards the other elements. The device including photosensitive linear arrays for front and rear detection... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20070229799 - Low-cost doppler frequency shift measuring device: The invention relates to a Doppler frequency shift measuring device of the optical type comprising an optical signal channel delivering, through a polarization-splitting coupler, through a bidirectional signal port of the coupler, a signal light beam illuminating a reference medium, the coupler receiving, through said bidirectional port, a backscattered light... Agent: Lowe Hauptman & Berner, LLP

20070229801 - Arrangements and methods for providing multimodality microscopic imaging of one or more biological structures: Method and apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention can be provided. For example, first data associated with a first signal received from at least one region of at least one sample can be provided based on a first modality, and second data associated with a second... Agent: Dorsey & Whitney LLP Intellectual Property Department

20070229802 - Multi-dimensional measuring system: A laser based tracking unit communicates with a target to obtain position information about the target. Specifically, the target is placed at the point to be measured. The pitch, yaw and roll movements of the target, and the spherical coordinates of the target relative to the tracking unit are then... Agent: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP

20070229803 - Measurement method and apparatus, exposure apparatus, exposure method, and adjusting method: A measurement method for measuring a position of an aperture stop in an optical system includes the steps of measuring a light intensity distribution of light that passes the aperture stop, at a position that is optically conjugate with a pupil position in the optical system, and determining a position... Agent: Morgan & Finnegan, L.L.P.

20070229804 - Light-scattering film, polarizing plate and image display: m

20070229808 - Plasma generating electrode inspection device: The present invention provides a plasma generating electrode inspection device capable of efficiently inspecting the parallelism, flatness, surface roughness, and dielectric strength of a plasma generating electrode. A plasma generating electrode inspection device 100 includes a reference quartz plate 2 provided with a film-shaped transparent conductor 1 disposed on one... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20070229806 - Measuring a damaged structure formed on a wafer using optical metrology: A method of measuring a damaged structure formed on a semiconductor wafer using optical metrology includes directing an incident beam on the damaged structure. A diffracted beam is received from the damaged structure. The received diffracted beam is processed to determine a profile of an undamaged portion of the damaged... Agent: Morrison & Foerster LLP

20070229807 - Measuring a damaged structure formed on a wafer using optical metrology: A method of measuring a damaged structure formed on a semiconductor wafer using optical metrology, the method includes obtaining a measured diffraction signal from a damaged periodic structure. A hypothetical profile of the damaged periodic structure is defined. The hypothetical profile having an undamaged portion, which corresponds to an undamaged... Agent: Morrison & Foerster LLP

20070229805 - Vision inspection system device and method: A course material that is applied to a substrate during fabrication of a composite item is inspected by a system that includes a vision assembly. The vision assembly includes an area light, a line generator, a sensor, and an image processor. The area light illuminates an area of the course... Agent: Baker & Hostetler LLP

20070229810 - Illuminating method in paint defect detecting machine: To develop and provide an illuminating method for a paint defect detecting machine in which a camera section and an illumination section are provided on an integral base board to optimize the illuminating method for multiple curved surface areas of a vehicle body, thereby to minimize undetectable areas and increase... Agent: Kratz, Quintos & Hanson, LLP

20070229809 - Computer-implemented methods and systems for determining a configuration for a light scattering inspection system: Computer-implemented methods and systems for determining a configuration for a light scattering inspection system are provided. One computer-implemented method includes determining a three-dimensional map of signal-to-noise ratio values for data that would be acquired for a specimen and a potential defect on the specimen by the light scattering inspection system... Agent: Baker & Mckenzie LLP

20070229812 - Method and instrument for measuring semiconductor wafers: in which n varies from 1 to N. In this manner, rings are obtained that become narrower with increasing distance from the center of the wafer, thereby providing measurement points that become closer together towards the edge of the wafer, and covering only the useful zone of the wafer to... Agent: Winston & Strawn LLP Patent Department

20070229811 - Method for preparing focus-adjustment data for focusing lens system of optical defect-inspection apparatus, and focus adjustment wafer used in such method: In a method for preparing focus-adjustment data for a focusing lens system of an optical defect-inspection apparatus, a wafer having a plurality of defects is positioned in place with respect to a focal plane defined by the focusing lens system at a positioning step, and the detects on the wafer... Agent: Mcginn Intellectual Property Law Group, PLLC

20070229813 - Surface inspection method and surface inspection device: A surface inspection method for projecting a laser beam to an inspection surface and for scanning and detecting foreign objects or the like on the inspection surface, comprising a step of being had a required number of detecting regions by a photodetector against a projecting site of the laser beam,... Agent: Nields & Lemack

20070229814 - Pattern defect inspection method, photomask manufacturing method, and display device substrate manufacturing method: A defect inspection method is adapted to inspect a defect generated in a main pattern of a photomask. The main pattern includes a repetitive pattern in which unit patterns are periodically arranged. The method forms, an auxiliary pattern for inspection simultaneously with forming the main pattern. The auxiliary pattern includes... Agent: Sughrue Mion, PLLC

20070229815 - Apparatus and method for inspecting semiconductor wafer: A semiconductor wafer surface inspection apparatus detects LADs (Large Area Defects) which are flat and have low heights and differentiates them from particles. This inspection apparatus irradiates each point on the surface of a semiconductor wafer 200 with two parallel laser beams perpendicularly to the points while scanning the surface,... Agent: Joseph P. Farrar

20070229816 - Apparatus and methods for distributed temperature sensing: A sensing fibre for use in a distributed temperature sensing system comprises an optical fibre to be deployed in a measurement region in which a temperature measurement is to be made, which incorporates a reflective element, such as a join between portions of fibre, and a coiled fibre portion positioned... Agent: Patent Counsel Schlumberger Reservoir Completions

20070229817 - Light scattering device having multi-layer micro structure: A micro structure includes a silicon substrate, an adhesion layer on the silicon substrate, a bias layer on the adhesion layer, and structure layers on the adhesion layer. The two or more structure layers comprise different material compositions and a plurality of holes through at least two of the structure... Agent: Xin Wen

20070229818 - Apparatus and method for monitoring breath acetone and diabetic diagnostics: An apparatus and method for monitoring diabetes through breath acetone detection and quantitation employs a microplasma source in combination with a spectrometer. The microplasma source provides sufficient energy to produce excited acetone fragments from the breath gas that emit light. The emitted light is sent to the spectrometer, which generates... Agent: Los Alamos National Security, LLC

20070229819 - Surface contamination detection: A contamination detector in accordance with one embodiment of the invention includes a plasma generation system operable to direct an atmospheric plasma discharge towards a surface. The contamination detector further includes a light capture system to capture light generated by interaction of the atmospheric plasma discharge with the surface. The... Agent: Agilent Technologies Inc.

20070229820 - Spectrophotometer with wide inlet slit: A spectrophotometer incorporating an interferometer and a dispersive system is adapted to have an enlarged inlet field without degrading its spatial resolution (δyi). To this end, spectral data deduced from measurements performed by means of the interferometer are transferred into spectral data deduced from measurements performed by means of the... Agent: Miller, Matthias & Hull

20070229822 - Apparatus for measuring a spectral distribution of a printed product produced with a printing device: An apparatus (10) measures a spectral distribution of a printed product (12) produced with a printing device. The apparatus (10) has an illuminating source (20) for illuminating the printed product (12), an optoelectronic measuring means (32) for measurer the reflectance value of a section of the spectrum of the light... Agent: Casella & Hespos

20070229821 - Spectroscope and method of performing spectroscopy: A spectroscope designed to utilize an adaptive optical element such as a micro mirror array (MMA) and two distinct light channels and detectors. The devices can provide for real-time and near real-time scaling and normalization of signals.... Agent: Lewis, Rice & Fingersh, Lc Attn: BoxIPDept.

20070229823 - Determination of the number concentration and particle size distribution of nanoparticles using dark-field microscopy: Embodiments of the invention relate to determining the number concentration and size distribution of particles using dark-field microscopy. These embodiments are especially useful for the simultaneous determination of particle number concentration and size distribution of particles with dimensions below 4 microns.... Agent: Darby & Darby P.C.

20070229824 - Fire detector device: The sensitivity of scattered-light fire detectors for small particles can be increased substantially when blue light is introduced into the measuring volume in addition to an infrared radiation and the scattered radiation produced by the particles is measured and evaluated separately from each other in the infrared and blue region... Agent: Edell, Shapiro & Finnan, LLC

20070229825 - Aerosol particle sensor with axial fan: A particle sensor for optically detecting an unconstrained particle suspended in a flowing gas includes a sample chamber having a gas inlet and a gas outlet; a gas flow system for flowing said gas from said gas inlet through said sample chamber to said gas outlet, a source of light;... Agent: Patton Boggs LLP

20070229826 - Rapid material optical diagnostics method: The present invention provides a system and method for utilizing optical measurements to determine properties of a material. Ellipsometry is used to measure the polarization state of a light beam reflected from or transmitted through a material. Utilizing ellipsometry, two or more Mueller Matrix elements are determined by variation of... Agent: Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP Intellectual Property Department

20070229827 - Optical monitoring of products of the tobacco-processing industry: The invention relates to an apparatus and method for electromagnetic monitoring of products of tobacco-processing industry in a monitoring zone. An apparatus includes a first imaging device aligned to the monitoring zone, a second imaging device aligned to the monitoring zone from a direction different from the first imaging device,... Agent: Greenblum & Bernstein, P.L.C

20070229829 - Apparatus and methods for detecting overlay errors using scatterometry: Embodiments of the invention include a scatterometry target for use in determining the alignment between substrate layers. A target arrangement is formed on a substrate and comprises a plurality of target cells. Each cell has two layers of periodic features constructed such that an upper layer is arranged above a... Agent: Beyer Weaver LLP - Kla Tencor

20070229828 - Lithographic processing cell and device manufacturing method: A double processing technique for device manufacture is disclosed that includes performing a first patterning step to form apertures in a resist layer which apertures are filled before the first resist layer is stripped and replaced by a second resist layer to be used in the second exposure. In an... Agent: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP

20070229830 - Sample analyzer and sample analyzing method: A sample analyzer is disclosed that comprising: a light source section for emitting light; a first optical information acquiring section for illuminating a sample with the light emitted by the light source section, and for acquiring first optical information; and a second optical information acquiring section for illuminating a measurement... Agent: Sughrue Mion, PLLC

20070229831 - Spectral instrument: In this spectral instrument, a plurality of interference filters 31, 32 . . . with transmitting wavebands different from each other are arranged in order so that light reflected by a specific interference filter 31 is made incident on the interference filter 32 on the next stage, and at positions... Agent: Drinker Biddle & Reath (dc)

20070229832 - Online internal quality inspection method and apparatus: To provide a method and an apparatus for inspecting, in a non-destructive manner, internal qualities such as diseases and defects and physiological defects, which cannot be seen in an appearance, along with measurement of taste component values such as a sugar degree and an acid degree of fruits, which are... Agent: Wenderoth, Lind & Ponack, L.L.P.

20070229833 - High-sensitivity surface detection system and method: An inspection system and method for inspecting a sample surface, with a light source for generating a probe beam of light, a high NA lens for focusing the probe beam onto a sample surface, and collecting a scattered probe beam from the sample surface, optics for imaging the scattered probe... Agent: Dla Piper Rudnick Gray Cary Us, LLP

20070229834 - System and method for high sensitivity optical detection of gases: A method and apparatus architecture for detecting gases, particularly hazardous gases which should be detected in miniscule amounts. High sensitivity detection of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) is set forth with very low probability of false positives (PFP) by the use of an innovative laser-photoacoustic spectrometer (L-PAS). Detection of diisopropyl methylphosphonate... Agent: Cislo & Thomas, LLP

20070229835 - Far-field optical microscope with a nanometer-scale resolution based on the in-plane image magnification by surface plasmon polaritions: A far-field optical microscope capable of reaching nanometer-scale resolution using the in-plane image magnification by surface plasmon polaritons is presented. The microscope utilizes a microscopy technique based on the optical properties of a metal-dielectric interface that may, in principle, provide extremely large values of the effective refractive index neff up... Agent: Carter, Deluca, Farrell & Schmidt, LLP

20070229836 - Organic luminescent surface plasmon resonance sensor: One embodiment of the present invention is a sensor for analyzing an analyte that includes: (a) an sensing element that is adapted to interface with the analyte; (b) an organic luminescent element that is adapted to excite surface plasmon resonance on the sensing element; and (c) a detector that is... Agent: Yi-ming Tseng

20070229837 - Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method using overlay measurement quality indication: A lithographic apparatus arranged to transfer a pattern from a patterning device onto a substrate includes two reference gratings provided in the substrate and two measurement gratings on top of the reference gratings, the measurement gratings being similar to the reference gratings, and oppositely biased in a single direction relative... Agent: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP

20070229838 - Wavelength calibration in a fiber optic gyroscope: Methods and apparatus are provided for calibrating a fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) to compensate for wavelength fluctuations. The wavelength of the light propagating in the gyroscope is accurately determined by obtaining wavelength indicia for light originally produced by the sensor light source and for light produced by a reference light... Agent: Honeywell International Inc.

20070229839 - Sensor objective: A sensor objective at the exit of a measuring branch of a measuring probe of an interferometric measuring unit for detecting the shape, roughness or distance of the surface of a measured object, the interferometric measuring unit including a modulation interferometer and the measuring probe being optically connected to the... Agent: Kenyon & Kenyon LLP

20070229840 - Interferometric measuring device: An interferometric measuring device includes a short-coherent radiation source and a system composed of a modulation interferometer having a first and a second modulation interferometer beam path and a downstream reference interferometer, the radiation being split in the reference interferometer into a first beam path and a second beam path.... Agent: Kenyon & Kenyon LLP

20070229841 - Detector configuration for interferometric distance measurement: A phase difference detector generates a plurality of signals from an input beam including orthogonal, linearly polarized object and reference beam components. The detector may be configured such that as the reference and object beam components traverse the detector, phase shifts due to surface interactions are made as similar as... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20070229842 - Optical interferometer: An optical interferometer (100) includes a first optical interferometer (200) disposed on a front surface side of a workpiece (W) and a second optical interferometer (300) disposed on a rear surface side of the workpiece (W). The first optical interferometer (200) and the second optical interferometer (300) each include a... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20070229843 - Detector for interferometric distance measurement: A detector for interferometric distance or displacement measurement. The detector may receive orthogonally polarized object and reference path output beams, which are directed to a polarization-sensitive beam deflecting element. The beam deflecting element deflects one or both orthogonally polarized beams to provide a desired divergence angle between the beams. The... Agent: Christensen, O'connor, Johnson, Kindness, PLLC

20070229845 - Film thickness measuring method of member to be processed using emission spectroscopy and processing method of the member using the measuring method: A system including: a film thickness measuring apparatus for measuring a film thickness of a member to be processed, including: a differential waveform pattern data base for holding a standard pattern consisting of a time differential value of an interference light for each of multiple wavelengths with respect to a... Agent: Antonelli, Terry, Stout & Kraus, LLP

20070229844 - Method of and apparatus for measuring layer thicknesses and layer homogeneities in containers: The invention concerns a method of measuring layer thicknesses and layer homogeneities in transparent, internally lubricant- and water-repulsion-coated containers, wherein a lens (2) focuses polychromatic light on to the internal coating (1B) of the container (1), the reflected light is detected again, coupled into a spectrometer and registered by way... Agent: Ware Fressola Van Der Sluys & Adolphson, LLP

20070229846 - Thickness measurement of moving webs and seal integrity system using dual interferometer: A system and method for measuring the thickness of materials and coatings across a moving length of material such as sheet, film, or web by the use of non-contact optical interferometry is provided. Also, a system and method for evaluating the seal integrity in flexible packaging across a moving web... Agent: William J. Mcnichol, Jr., Esq. Reed Smith, LLP

20070229847 - Interferometers for the measurement of large diameter thin wafers: An interferometer for measuring the flatness, variation of thickness and parallelism of large, thin transparent wafers held vertically and undistorted by gravitational forces. A sodium lamp provides monochromatic light that is diffusely reflected off a background screen towards the wafer. A reference flat surface is positioned sufficiently closely to the... Agent: Synnestvedt Lechner & Woodbridge LLP

20070229848 - Measurement method and apparatus, exposure apparatus: A measurement method for measuring a wavefront aberration of a target optical system using a measurement apparatus that measures the wavefront aberration of the target optical system by detecting an interference pattern includes the steps of measuring as a system parameter a shift from a design value of a value... Agent: Morgan & Finnegan, L.L.P.

20070229849 - Bandwidth measuring device for high pulse repetition rate pulsed laser: A method and apparatus is disclosed which may comprise detecting the bandwidth of laser output light pulses of a pulsed laser utilizing an array of light detecting elements by the steps which may comprise passing a portion of the laser output light produced by the pulsed laser to the array... Agent: William Cray C/o Cymer, Inc.

20070229850 - System and method for three-dimensional image capture: A three dimensional (3D) image capture system uses structured light technique. The 3D image capture system includes a first texture camera for capturing a textural image of a 3D object and a second geometry camera for capturing a geometric image of a 3D object while a structured light pattern is... Agent: Jessica W. Smith

20070229851 - Component placement unit as well as a component placement device comprising such a component placement unit: A component placement unit for placing a component on a substrate, which component placement unit comprises at least one nozzle which is rotatable about a central axis, by means of which a component can be picked up and placed on the substrate. The component placement unit further comprises at least... Agent: Foley And Lardner LLP Suite 500

20070229855 - In-die optical metrology: To determine one or more features of an in-die structure on a semiconductor wafer, a correlation is determined between one or more features of a test structure to be formed on a test pad and one or more features of a corresponding in-die structure. A measured diffraction signal measured off... Agent: Morrison & Foerster LLP

20070229853 - Nanometer contact detection method and apparatus for precision machining: A method and apparatus for determining the distance between the tip of a machining tool formed of a substantially transmissive material and a surface. A beam of narrow bandwidth light is diffracted by directing the beam of narrow bandwidth light between the surface and the tip of the machining tool... Agent: Ratnerprestia

20070229854 - Optical metrology of multiple patterned layers: One or more features of multiple patterned layers formed on a semiconductor are determined by obtaining a first measured diffraction signal measured from a first patterned layer before a second patterned layer is formed on top of the first patterned layer. One or more features of the first patterned layer... Agent: Morrison & Foerster LLP

20070229852 - Systems and methods for measuring one or more characteristics of patterned features on a specimen: Systems and methods for measuring one or more characteristics of patterned features on a specimen are provided. One system includes an optical subsystem configured to acquire measurements of light scattered from the patterned features on the specimen at multiple angles of incidence, multiple azimuthal angles, and multiple wavelengths simultaneously. The... Agent: Baker & Mckenzie LLP