Method and apparatus for obtaining chemical and/or material specific information of a sample using light scattered by Rayleigh scattering and/or Raman scattering

An imaging apparatus for obtaining chemical and/or material specific information of a sample based on scattered light, the imaging apparatus comprising:

• one or more illumination devices configured to illuminate at least a portion of the sample with incident light, and
• one or more detection devices configured to detect at least two images indicative of an intensity of an elastic scattering component of scattered light that is due to Rayleigh scattering of the incident light in the portion of the sample,
• wherein for each of the at least two images
• i) the one or more illumination devices are configured to provide incident light of a different wavelength and/or polarization state, or
• ii) the one or more detection devices are configured to detect scattered light of a different polarization state;
• wherein the imaging apparatus further comprises a processor in data communication with the one or more detection devices and the processor is configured to determine the chemical and/or material specific information of the sample based on a change in intensity of the elastic scattering component in dependence of at least one of a change in wavelength of the incident light and/or the scattered light or a change in polarization state of the incident light and/or the scattered light;
• wherein the one or more illumination devices comprise a scanning element and an illumination objective, wherein the scanning element and illumination objective are configured to illuminate the sample with a light sheet of the incident light;
• and
• the one or more detection devices are configured to detect the at least two images by imaging the light sheet at an angle to a plane of the light sheet.