Method and apparatus for determining concentration using polarized light
AssigneeDEKA Products Limited Partnership
InventorJacob W. Scarpaci
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for determining the concentration of chiral molecules in a fluid includes a first polarizer configure to polarize light in substantially a first plane to provide initially polarized light. A second polarizer is capable of polarizing the initially polarized light in a plurality of planes, at least one of the plurality of planes being different from the first plane, to provide subsequently polarized light. One or more receivers are included for measuring an intensity of the subsequently polarized light in one or more of the plurality of planes.
Claims15
An apparatus for determining the concentration of chiral molecules in a fluid comprising:
- a first polarizer configured to polarize light substantially in a first plane;
- a second polarizer configured to polarize light in a plurality of planes, at least one of the plurality of planes being different from the first plane;
- a fluid chamber, at least a portion of the fluid chamber at least partially disposed between the first polarizer and the second polarizer, the fluid chamber configured to retain a volume of fluid;
- and
- at least one receiver capable of measuring an intensity of incident light transmitted through the first polarizer and through the second polarizer,
- wherein the second polarizer includes a polarizer array including one or more polarizing elements, each of the one or more polarizing elements configured to polarize light substantially in a respective single plane, each of the respective single planes being different from one or more of the other of the respective single planes.
A method comprising:
- transmitting initially polarized light through a fluid chamber;
- polarizing the initially polarized light transmitted through the fluid chamber in at least a first plane and a second plane, the second plane being different from the first plane, to provide subsequently polarized light;
- measuring an intensity of the subsequently polarized light in the at least two planes;
- and
- measuring an intensity of the subsequently polarized light when the fluid chamber does not contain the fluid and measuring an intensity of the subsequently polarized light when the fluid chamber contains the fluid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.