112 results about "Thin-film interference" patented technology

A vertical extended cavity surface emitting laser (VECSEL) includes intra-cavity frequency doubling. Conventional frequency control elements, such as etalons, are replaced with thin film interference filters or volume Bragg gratings.

Methods and devices for the measurement of molecular binding interactions. Preferred embodiments provide real-time measurements of kinetic binding and disassociation of molecules including binding and disassociation of protein molecules with other protein molecules and with other molecules. In preferred embodiments ligands are immobilized within pores of a porous silicon interaction region produced in a silicon substrate, after which analytes suspended in a fluid are flowed over the porous silicon region. Binding reactions occur when analyte molecules diffuse closely enough to the ligands to become bound. Preferably the binding and subsequent disassociation reactions are observed utilizing a white light source and thin film interference techniques with spectrometers arranged to detect changes in indices of refraction in the region where the binding and disassociation reactions occur. In preferred embodiments both ligands and analytes are delivered by computer controlled robotic fluid flow control techniques to the porous silicon interaction regions through microfluidic flow channels.

The present invention relates to a high-sensitivity inspection method and apparatus adapted for the fine-structuring of patterns, wherein defect inspection sensitivity is improved using the following technologies: detection optical system is improved in resolution by filling the clearance between an objective lens 30 and a sample 1, with a liquid, and increasing effective NA (Numerical Aperture); and when a transparent interlayer-insulating film is formed on the surface of the sample, amplitude splitting at the interface between the liquid and the insulating film is suppressed for reduction in the unevenness of optical images in brightness due to interference of thin-film, by immersing the clearance between the objective lens and the sample, with a liquid of a refractive index close to that of the transparent film.

An optical instrument including: a thermo-optically tunable, thin film, free-space interference filter having a tunable passband which functions as a wavelength selector, the filter including a sequence of alternating layers of amorphous silicon and a dielectric material deposited one on top of the other and forming a Fabry-Perot cavity structure having: a first multi-layer thin film interference structure forming a first mirror; a thin-film spacer layer deposited on top of the first multi-layer interference structure, the thin-film spacer layer made of amorphous silicon; and a second multi-layer thin film interference structure deposited on top of the thin-film spacer layer and forming a second mirror; a lens for coupling an optical beam into the filter; an optical detector for receiving the optical beam after the optical beam has interacted with the interference filter; and circuitry for heating the thermo-optically tunable interference filter to control a location of the passband.

Composite mirror systems include a wideband thin film interference stack having a plurality of microlayers and an optically thick layer having a refractive index greater than air but less than the smallest refractive index of the stack. The mirror systems can provide high reflectivity for light propagating in the stack and in the optically thick layer at supercritical angles, while avoiding degradation in reflectivity if dirt or other disturbances such as absorbing materials are present at the mirror backside for example due to contact with a support structure.

Thin-film coatings, which for example have alternating layers of high and low refractive index materials, are shown to function as both positive and negative C-plates, in dependence upon the incident radiation. In particular, the shape of the retardance versus angle of incidence profile is found to be determined, at least in part, by the phase thickness of the thin film coating (i.e., the optical thickness in terms of the wavelength of the incident radiation, which may, for example, be expressed in degrees, radians, or as the number of quarter wavelengths). These thin film coatings are optionally integrated into anti-reflection coatings, thin film interference filters and / or other components to improve efficiency and / or functionality.

A security article provides a covert feature as well as an optically variable effect on one side thereof and a mirror-like reflective effect on another side. The article includes an interference filter consisting of a first reflective layer, a dielectric layer on the first reflective layer, and an absorber layer on the dielectric layer. Furthermore, the article includes a magnetic layer under the first reflective layer for providing the covert feature, and a second reflective layer under the magnetic layer for providing the mirror-like reflective effect. The magnetic layer may be patterned, and a third reflective layer, also patterned, may be formed on the absorber layer for providing a visual reference for the color shifting image.