Apparatus for exploring an optical property of a sample

Abstract

The invention relates to an apparatus for probing a sample comprising a light source for emitting an illuminating light beam, a birefringent element for splitting the illuminating light beam into two sheared beams, a reflective element for reflecting the two sheared beams, wherein the apparatus is configured such that the reflected beams propagate through the birefringent element for recombining the reflected beams, and a detector for detecting the recombined beam, wherein the sample is arrangeable in the optical path of the sheared beams or at the backside of a reflective surface in the optical path of the sheared beams, the reflective surface exhibiting a surface plasmon resonance or a localized surface plasmon resonance.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.