Systems and methods for particle detection
AssigneeWashington University in St. Louis
InventorsJiangang Zhu, Sahin Kaya Ozdemir, Lan Yang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A particle detection system is provided. The particle detection system includes at least one tapered optical fiber, a light source configured to transmit light through the at least one tapered optical fiber, a photodetector configured to measure a characteristic of the light being transmitted through the at least one optical fiber, and a computing device coupled to the photodetector and configured to determine whether a nanoparticle is present within an evanescent field of the at least one tapered optical fiber based on the measured light characteristic.
Claims20
A particle detection system comprising:
- at least one tapered optical fiber;
- a light source configured to transmit light through said at least one tapered optical fiber;
- a photodetector configured to measure a characteristic of the light being transmitted through said at least one optical fiber;
- and
- a computing device coupled to said photodetector and configured to determine whether a nanoparticle is present within an evanescent field of said at least one tapered optical fiber based on the measured light characteristic.
A method for detecting nanoparticles, said method comprising:
- transmitting light through a tapered optical fiber;
- measuring a characteristic of the light being transmitted through the tapered optical fiber;
- and
- determining whether a nanoparticle is present within an evanescent field of the tapered optical fiber based on the measured light characteristic.
A method of assembling a particle detector, said method comprising:
- coupling a tapered optical fiber to a light source, the light source being configured to transmit light through the tapered optical fiber;
- coupling a photodetector to the tapered optical fiber, the photodetector being configured to measure a characteristic of the light being transmitted through the tapered optical fiber;
- and
- coupling a computing device to the photodetector, the computing device being configured to determine whether nanoparticles are present within an evanescent field of the tapered optical fiber based on the measured light characteristic.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.