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Title: Imaging based refractometers

Patent ·
OSTI ID:1226818

Refractometers for simultaneously measuring refractive index of a sample over a range or wavelengths of light include dispersive and focusing optical systems. An optical beam including the rang of wavelengths is spectrally spread along a first axis and focused along a second axis so as to be incident to an interface between the sample and a prism at a range of angles of incidence including a critical angle for at least one wavelength. In some cases, the prism can have a triangle, parallelogram, trapezoid, or other shape. In some cases, the optical beam can be reflected off of multiple interfaces between the prism and the sample. An imaging detector is situated to receive the spectrally spread and focused light from the interface and form an image corresponding to angle of incidence as a function of wavelength. One or more critical angles are indentified and corresponding refractive indices are determined.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
Assignee:
UT-Battelle, LLC (Oak Ridge, TN)
Patent Number(s):
9,194,799
Application Number:
14/103,746
OSTI ID:
1226818
Resource Relation:
Patent File Date: 2013 Dec 11
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (14)

Refractometric densitometer patent March 1977
Automatic refractometer patent September 1987
Optical lightpipe sensor based on surface plasmon resonance patent October 1998
Analytical method and apparatus patent December 2002
Measuring method and apparatus using attenuation in total internal reflection patent March 2007
Optical device integrated with well patent June 2007
Optically amplified critical wavelength refractometer patent November 2009
Attenuated total reflection sensor patent July 2010
Apparatus for detecting one or more substances and method of detecting a substance patent February 2011
Full-field imaging-based instantaneous hyperspectral absolute refractive index measurement journal January 2012
Critical angle laser refractometer journal March 2006
A two-reflection divergent differentiating critical angle refractometer journal May 2011
Absolute refractive index measurement method over a broad wavelength region based on white-light interferometry journal January 2010
Automated measurement of the refractive index of fluids journal January 2008

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