University of Minnesota

Joseph J Talghader

Martin Blumenfeld

Mark A Sanders

Steven Arthur Lewis

Scott Andrew Nelson

Ryan P Shea

Anand S Gawarikar

Kraig Anderson

Jesse R Grenz

Merlin Lyn Mah

Yuyan Wang

Michael S Sutton

A system includes a detector and a computing device communicatively coupled to the detector. The detector detects spatial or temporal spectral features of a light beam after transmission of the light beam through a turbulent or aberrated medium and generate a measurement signal indicative of the spectral feature. The computing device receives the measurement signal and a comparative signal indicative of a spectral feature of the light beam prior to or after transmission of the light beam through the medium. The computing device compares the measurement signal and the comparative signal and determines, based on the comparison of the measurement signal and the comparative signal, one or more values related to variations in refractive indices of the medium.

Optical aberration detection systems

The present invention provides thermal detectors having an optical cavity that is optimized to couple light into a sensor. Light that is on resonance is coupled with the sensor with as high as 100% efficiency, while light off resonance is substantially reflected away. Light that strikes the sensor from the sides (i.e. not on the optical cavity axis) only interacts minimally with sensor because of the reduced absorption characteristics of the sensor. Narrowband sensors in accordance with the present invention can gain as much as 100% of the signal from one direction and spectral band, while receiving only a fraction of the normal radiation noise, which originates from all spectral bands and directions.

Detection beyond the standard radiation noise limit using reduced emissivity and optical cavity coupling

High sensitivity thermal detectors that perform beyond the blackbody radiation noise limit are described. Thermal detectors, as described herein, use spectrally selective materials that absorb strongly in the wavelength region of the desired signal but only weakly or not at all in the primary thermal emission band. Exemplary devices that can be made in accordance with the present invention include microbolometers containing semiconductors that absorb in the MWIR and/or THz range but not the LWIR.

Detection beyond the standard radiation noise limit using spectrally selective absorption

A cavity thermal detector assembly is presented that allows both tunable narrowband and broadband operation. This allows for high light efficiency, low thermal time constant, and flexibility in designing the optical path. The thermal detector/filter layers are part of the top mirror or mirrors of a Gires-Tournois-type optical cavity and provide absorption and reflection that can be adjusted to the desired width and position of the detected band. Tuning, if desired, can be achieved by applying micromechanical methods. Broadband operation may be achieved by bringing the sensor close to the bottom mirror. In this mode, the sensor or its supports may or may not touch over a small area.

Tunable finesse infrared cavity thermal detectors

A system and method using an electronic light detector array, e.g., a CCD or a CMOS-based detector array, is used to acquire a visual image of a biological sample that includes biological material associated with a biological material holding structure (e.g., a DNA spot array on a DNA chip, protein bands in a 2-D gel, etc.). For example, fluorescence from a biological sample may be detected.

Imaging of biological samples using electronic light detector

An image detection apparatus comprises a light source and a holding apparatus adapted to hold a substrate on which a biological sample may be mounted. Light from the light source impinges on the biological sample and causes light that is representative of the sample to be emitted from the sample. A light detector is positioned in the path of the emitted light and is scanned across the emitted light. The emitted light may be focused on the light detector with an optical assembly. The emitted light may be generated by chromophores on probes in the biological sample.

Scanning of biological samples

A device for detecting the pattern of polynucleic acid hybridization to a surface, the device includes (a) a positioning device for receiving a nucleic acid chip and keeping the chip in a sampling position, the nucleic acid chip being an object with a flat sample surface and an opposed surface that is joined to the sample surface by a thickness, with the sample surface having sequences of nucleic acids immobilized thereto, with each sequence being immobilized to a particular chip address. And, (b) an electronic light detector array, the detector array comprising detector pixels, the detector pixels being sensors located at particular detector pixel addresses, wherein the sampling position places the sample surface of the chip at a well-defined position relative to the electronic light detector array so that light leaving a chip address is substantially directed onto at least one detector pixel with an address that is correlated to the chip address.

Growing community of inventors

Eden Prairie, MN, United States of America

Joseph J Talghader