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:
Dec. 01, 2015
Filed:
Jul. 03, 2013
Jeffrey S. Brooker, Oak Hill, VA (US);
Jeffrey S. Brooker, Oak Hill, VA (US);
Thorlabs, Inc., Newton, NJ (US);
Abstract
An autofocus apparatus includes, in one embodiment, a light source; a splitter; a fiber optic circulator; an optical collimator; a balance detector; and a microprocessor. The fiber optic circulator couples one of the split light signals at a first port, to the optical collimator at a second port, and to the balance detector at the third port. The optical collimator directs the light beam from the fiber optic circulator onto a sample through a Dichroic mirror and a microscope objective. The balance detector uses another one of the split light signals as an input, and converts a light signal, reflected off of a substrate the sample is placed on, into an analog voltage signal. The microprocessor processes the output of the balance detector and position feedbacks from an adjustable microscopy stage to generate a command for moving the position of the adjustable microscopy stage to achieve a desired focus.