US 12,265,019 B2
Compact imaging-based sensors
Stephen Y. Chou, Princeton, NJ (US); Wei Ding, Princeton, NJ (US); Ji Qi, Hillsborough, NJ (US); and Jun Tian, Belle Mead, NJ (US)
Assigned to Essenlix Corporation, Monmouth Junction, NJ (US)
Appl. No. 17/268,677
Filed by Essenlix Corporation, Monmouth Junction, NJ (US)
PCT Filed Aug. 16, 2019, PCT No. PCT/US2019/046953
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Feb. 16, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/037292, PCT Pub. Date Feb. 20, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/719,020, filed on Aug. 16, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0181095 A1, Jun. 17, 2021
Int. Cl. G01N 21/31 (2006.01); G01N 21/01 (2006.01); G02B 21/00 (2006.01); G02B 21/06 (2006.01); G02B 21/18 (2006.01); H04N 23/56 (2023.01); H04N 23/57 (2023.01); H04M 1/02 (2006.01)
CPC G01N 21/31 (2013.01) [G01N 21/01 (2013.01); G02B 21/0008 (2013.01); G02B 21/06 (2013.01); G02B 21/18 (2013.01); H04N 23/56 (2023.01); H04N 23/57 (2023.01); G01N 2201/02 (2013.01); G01N 2201/061 (2013.01); G01N 2201/062 (2013.01); G01N 2201/0635 (2013.01); G01N 2201/08 (2013.01); H04M 1/0264 (2013.01)] 40 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An optical system for measuring an optical property of a thin layer of material, comprising:
a light source;
an optical fiber;
a beam splitter;
a slit;
an external first lens;
a grating;
a camera module having a second lens; and
a sample holder;
wherein:
the sample holder comprises a first plate, a second plate, a light guiding spacer (LGS), a sampling region, and a reference region, wherein:
(i) the first plate and the second plate are movable relative to each other into different configurations including an open configuration and a closed configuration,
wherein in the open configuration, the first and second plates are at least partially separated apart,
in the closed configuration, the first and second plate are configured to sandwich a sample into a thin layer of a thickness of 500 μm or less between the first and second plates, and each of the first and second plates has a sample contact area on its inner surface that contacts the sample;
(ii) in the closed configuration, the light-guiding spacer (LGS) is disposed between the first and second plates, the LGS has a pillar shape with each end in direct contact to one of the first and second plates to form an LGS-plate contact area, which allows a light transmits from the first plate, through the LGS, to the second plate without going through a sample;
(iii) the sampling region is a region where the light goes through, in order, the first plate, the sample, and the second plate, wherein the sampling region does not have the LGS; and
(iv) the reference region is the region where the light transmits through, in order, the first plate, the light-guiding spacer, and the second plate, without going through the sample;
the light source generates photons;
the optical fiber transmits the photons from the source through the beam splitter to illuminate and interrogate a sample;
the light from the interrogated sample passes through the beam splitter, the slit, the external first lens, the grating, and then to the camera module;
the camera module is part of a smartphone,
the external first lens, the slit, the beam splitter and the sample are aligned on a same optical axis which is perpendicular to the plane of the grating, and
the optical system measures and records the light spectrum of the sample.