Method and apparatus for enhanced photo-thermal imaging and spectroscopy
AssigneePhotothermal Spectroscopy Corp.
InventorsCraig Prater, Kevin Kjoller, Roshan Shetty
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Abstract
System for performing chemical spectroscopy on samples from the scale of nanometers to millimeters or more with a multifunctional platform combining analytical and imaging techniques including dual beam photo-thermal spectroscopy with confocal microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, fluorescence detection, various vacuum analytical techniques and/or mass spectrometry. In embodiments described herein, the light beams of a dual-beam system are used for heating and sensing.
Claims46
A method for analyzing a sample with a photothermal microscope, the method comprising:
- (a) illuminating a region of the sample in the photothermal microscope with a light beam of infrared radiation;
- (b) illuminating at least a sub-region of the region of the sample in the photothermal microscope with a probe light beam, the probe light beam having a shorter wavelength than the light beam of infrared radiation;
- (c) analyzing probe light collected from the sample to obtain measurements indicative of infrared absorption of the sub-region of the sample;
- and
- (d) analyzing probe light collected from the sample to obtain measurements indicative of Raman scattering of the sub-region of the sample.
A method for analyzing a sample with a photothermal microscope, the method comprising:
- (a) illuminating a region of the sample with a light beam of infrared radiation;
- (b) illuminating at least a sub-region of the region of the sample with a probe light beam having a shorter wavelength than the light beam of infrared radiation;
- (c) analyzing probe light collected from the sample to obtain measurements indicative of infrared absorption of the sub-region of the sample;
- (d) analyzing probe light collected from the sample to obtain measurements indicative of Raman scattering of the sub-region of the sample;
- and
- (e) repeating (a)-(d) at a plurality of locations on the sample.
A method for analyzing a sample with a photothermal microscope, the method comprising:
- (a) illuminating a region of the sample with a light beam of infrared radiation;
- (b) illuminating at least a sub-region of the region of the sample with a probe light beam having a shorter wavelength than the light beam of infrared radiation;
- (c) analyzing probe light collected from the sample to obtain measurements indicative of infrared absorption of the sub-region of the sample;
- and
- (d) analyzing probe light collected from the sample to obtain measurements indicative of Raman scattering of the sub-region of the sample,
- wherein the light beam of infrared radiation comprises mid-IR radiation within the wavelength range of 2.5-25 microns.
A method for analyzing a sample with a photothermal microscope, the method comprising:
- (a) illuminating a region of the sample with a light beam of infrared radiation;
- (b) illuminating at least a sub-region of the region of the sample with a probe light beam having a shorter wavelength than the light beam of infrared radiation;
- (c) adjusting an overlap between a focused spot of the light beam of infrared radiation and a focused spot of the probe light beam on the sample;
- (d) analyzing probe light collected from the sample to obtain measurements indicative of infrared absorption of the sub-region of the sample;
- and
- (e) analyzing probe light collected from the sample to obtain measurements indicative of Raman scattering of the sub-region of the sample.
A method for analyzing a sample immersed in a liquid, the method comprising:
- (a) illuminating a region of the sample immersed in the liquid with a light beam of infrared radiation;
- (b) illuminating at least a sub-region of the region of the sample with a probe light beam having a shorter wavelength than the light beam of infrared radiation;
- (c) analyzing probe light collected from the sample to obtain measurements indicative of infrared absorption of the sub-region of the sample;
- and
- (d) analyzing probe light collected from the sample to obtain measurements indicative of Raman scattering of the sub-region of the sample.
A method for analyzing a sample, the method comprising:
- (a) illuminating a region of the sample with a light beam of infrared radiation;
- (b) illuminating at least a sub-region of the region of the sample with a probe light beam having a shorter wavelength than the light beam of infrared radiation;
- (c) analyzing probe light collected from the sample to obtain measurements indicative of infrared absorption of the sub-region of the sample;
- and
- (d) analyzing probe light collected from the sample to obtain measurements indicative of Raman scattering of the sub-region of the sample,
- wherein at least one focusing optic is used to focus the light beam of infrared radiation and the probe light beam illuminating the sample and further comprising adjusting a relative separation between the at least one focusing optic and the sample to perform depth-resolved measurements of sub-surface features of a sample.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.