Optical fiber multiplexer for Raman spectroscopy

An optical fiber multiplexer comprising:

• a housing structure comprising a fixed plate;
• a servo motor disposed within the housing structure electronically coupled to a control unit for controlling the operation of the servo motor;
• a rotating plate coupled to the motor;
• a plurality of fixed plate light excitation optical fibers, wherein each light excitation optical fiber is coupled at one end thereof to the fixed plate using an adjustable gimbal mount which permits horizontal and vertical axial adjustment of the optical fiber, and wherein each fixed plate light excitation optical fiber is optically coupled to a collection lens;
• a plurality of fixed plate detection optical fibers, wherein each fixed plate detection optical fiber is coupled at one end thereof to the fixed plate using an adjustable gimbal mount which permits horizontal and vertical axial adjustment of the optical fiber, and wherein each fixed plate detection optical fiber is optically coupled to a collimating lens;
• a rotating plate light excitation optical fiber coupled at one end thereof to the rotating plate, and wherein said rotating plate light excitation optical fiber is optically coupled to a collimating lens and configured to transmit light from a light source through the collimating lens to a corresponding collection lens of one of the fixed plate light excitation optical fibers;
• and
• a rotating plate detection optical fiber coupled at one end thereof to the rotating plate, and wherein said rotating plate detection optical fiber is optically coupled to a collection lens and configured to receive an optical signal through the collection lens from a corresponding collimating lens of one of the fixed plate detection optical fibers.

An optical fiber multiplexer comprising:

• a housing structure comprising a fixed plate;
• a servo motor disposed within the housing structure and configured to be electronically coupled to a control unit for controlling the operation of the servo motor, wherein the servo motor provides sufficient power to provide inertial control and accurately move and hold a steady position given the weight of the optical fibers and the rotating plate;
• a rotating plate coupled to the motor;
• a plurality of fiber-optic channels coupled to the fixed plate, wherein each fiber-optic channel comprises:
• a light excitation optical fiber coupled at one end thereof to the fixed plate using an adjustable gimbal mount and coupled at the other end thereof to a chemical sample, wherein the gimbal mount provides horizontal and vertical axial adjustment of the optical fiber, and wherein the light excitation optical fiber is optically coupled to a collection lens;
• and
• a detection optical fiber coupled at one end thereof to the fixed plate using an adjustable gimbal mount and coupled at the other end thereof to the chemical sample, wherein the gimbal mount provides horizontal and vertical axial adjustment of the optical fiber, and wherein the detection optical fiber is optically coupled to a collimating lens;
• wherein the number of fiber-optic channels ranges from 2 to 30;
• a light excitation optical fiber coupled at one end thereof to the rotating plate, wherein said light excitation optical fiber is optically coupled to a collimating lens and configured to transmit light from a light source through the collimating lens to a corresponding collection lens of one of the fixed light excitation optical fibers, and wherein the light excitation optical fiber is configured to be coupled at the other end thereof to a laser light excitation producing an output power in the range from 10 to 2000 mW and a wavelength in the range from about 300 to 900 nm;
• and
• a detection optical fiber coupled at one end thereof to the rotating plate, wherein said detection optical fiber is optically coupled to a collection lens and configured to receive a detected optical signal through the collection lens from a corresponding collimating lens of one of the fixed detection optical fibers, and wherein the detection optical fiber is configured to be coupled at the other end thereof to a spectroscopy device.