Energy dispersion device
AssigneeSpectroclick, Inc.
InventorsAlexander Scheeline, Thu Anh Bui
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Abstract
The invention provides an energy dispersion device, spectrograph and method that can be used to evaluate the composition of matter on site without the need for specialized training or expensive equipment. The energy dispersion device or spectrograph can be used with a digital camera or cell phone. A device of the invention includes a stack of single- or double-dispersion diffraction gratings that are rotated about their normal giving rise to a multiplicity of diffraction orders from which meaningful measurements and determinations can be made with respect to the qualitative or quantitative characteristics of matter.
Claims43
An energy dispersion device, comprising:
- a limiting aperture;
- a collimating optic;
- and
- a wavelength dispersion component, wherein:
- said limiting aperture is positioned at the optical focus point of said collimating optic;
- said limiting aperture admits electromagnetic radiation incident on said collimating optic;
- said collimation optic collimates said electromagnetic radiation to be incident on said wavelength dispersion component;
- said wavelength dispersion component comprises a stack comprising two or more diffraction gratings;
- wherein each diffraction grating in said stack is selected from the group consisting of single-dispersion diffraction gratings and double-dispersion diffraction gratings;
- wherein each diffraction grating in said stack is about coplanar with each other diffraction grating in said stack;
- and
- wherein each diffraction grating in said stack is rotated about its normal such that it is rotated relative to each other diffraction grating in said stack;
- and
- said wavelength dispersion component diffracts said electromagnetic radiation into a multiplicity of diffraction orders.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.