The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 06, 2026
Filed:
Sep. 06, 2023
The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, Urbana, IL (US);
Rohit Bhargava, Champaign, IL (US);
Seth Kenkel, Urbana, IL (US);
The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, Urbana, IL (US);
Abstract
An imaging substrate is provided to facilitate wide field photothermal infrared spectroscopic imaging of samples disposed thereon. The substrate includes at least two reflective layers and at least one spacer layer disposed therebetween which, together, form an optical cavity. The spacer layer(s) exhibit expansion and/or refractive index change as a function of heating by incident infrared illumination. Such localized heating results in a localized change in the effective reflectivity of the substrate by locally tuning/detuning the optical cavity. Thus, the pattern of effective reflectivity of the substrate can be made to correspond to the pattern of infrared absorptivity of a sample mounted on the substrate by illuminating the sample and the substrate with infrared illumination. The pattern of effective reflectivity can then be imaged, from the opposite side of the substrate from the sample and the incident infrared illumination, using a wide field microscope or other imaging.