Compact optical measurement probe
AssigneeKaiser Optical Systems
InventorJoseph B. Slater
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A remote optical measurement suitable for Raman and fluorescence detection uses one or more dielectric components and an optical configuration which affords significant miniaturization, in some cases resulting in a probe with dimensions on the order of one-half inch or less on a side. A primary application is the pharmaceutical market, wherein the reactors vessels are only 1-inch in diameter, causing a scale down of instrumentation due to space requirements.
Claims5
A miniature fiber-optic probehead configured for interconnection to a first optical fiber for carrying excitation energy to the probehead, and a second optical fiber for carrying collected energy for analysis, the probehead comprising:
- a dielectric bandpass filter for filtering the excitation energy;
- a beam combiner for merging the filtered excitation energy into a combined, counter-propagating sample excitation and collection path;
- and
- wherein the beam combiner is tilted at an angle of less than 20 degrees relative to the combined, counter-propagating sample excitation and collection path.
A miniature fiber-optic probehead configured for interconnection to a first optical fiber for carrying excitation energy to the probehead, and a second optical fiber for carrying collected energy for analysis, the probehead comprising:
- a dielectric bandpass filter for filtering the excitation energy;
- a dielectric beam combiner for merging the filtered excitation energy into a combined, counter-propagating sample excitation and collection path, the beam combiner being supported at an angle of less than 20 degrees relative to the combined, counter-propagating sample excitation and collection path;
- and
- a dielectric notch filter for filtering the collected energy before entering the collection fiber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.