A system for imaging a biological target includes a light excitation source providing an excitation laser pulse. The system also includes an objective lens that receives reflections of the excitation laser pulse. The system further includes a reimaging optical lens that generates an image of an entrance pupil of the objective lens. The system includes a time-delayed detector that detects the image of the entrance pupil.

An imaging apparatus comprises: (i) an illumination waveguide configured to propagate light by total internal reflection, wherein an evanescent field illuminates an object in close relation to the illumination waveguide; an array of light-sensitive areas arranged on a common substrate with the illumination waveguide for detecting light from the object; and (iii) a controller configured to control forming of an interference pattern in the illumination waveguide, wherein the interference pattern comprises at least one element of constructive interference for selectively illuminating a portion of the object, the at least one element having a dimension with a size in a range of 100 nm-10 m; wherein the controller is configured to sequentially change the interference pattern in relation to the object such that different portions are illuminated and light from different portions is sequentially detected.

The present invention relates to an optoelectronic chip for receiving a sample for optical examination, having a carrier layer, a thin-film lightguide having an active region, in which the sample interacts with a guided mode of the thin-film lightguide, wherein at least one scattering structure is arranged in the active region, which scatters a part of the light guided in the thin-film lightguide, whereby a reference light field is produced. The invention further relates to an optical system having such a chip. The system is used for the marker-free analysis of particles, particularly biomolecules in their natural environment.

A device includes a host medium having a first refractive index value; a first layer comprising a first dielectric material having a second refractive index value, wherein the second refractive index value is greater than the first refractive index value, and wherein the first layer comprises a first step structure at a boundary between the first layer and the host medium; and a second layer comprising a second dielectric material and comprising a second step structure, the second layer having a third refractive index value higher than the first refractive index value of the host medium, wherein the second step structure is stacked on the first step structure, and, in response to an incident electromagnetic wave reaching the device, a first nanojet beam generated by the first step structure and a second nanojet beam generated by the second step structure are combined and focused around a first focusing point.

The present invention relates to an optoelectronic chip for receiving a sample in the visualization of temperature-dependent processes, having a carrier layer, a thin-film lightguide and a thin-film heating element, wherein the thin-film lightguide and the thin-film heating element are preferably arranged on sides of the carrier layer that lie opposite each other.

An apparatus for characterizing luminescent entities by excitation comprising: a substrate (6) being in contact with a solution comprising luminescent entities; a source of electromagnetic radiation (4) providing at least a primary beam of radiation (8); an objective (5); a first optical element (1) capable of transforming the intensity profile of the primary beam (8) into an arbitrary secondary intensity profile (distribution) (9); a second optical element (2) capable of separating (discriminating) radiation by wavelength; and a detector (7), where the arbitrary secondary intensity profile has at least an off-center circular continuous intensity distribution (33) focused on the back focal plane (12) of the objective forming a collimated beam (10) capable of creating an evanescent field on the side of the substrate where the solution comprising luminescent entities are located, where the evanescent field excites the luminescent entities thereby creating emission radiation separated by the second optical element (2) and captioned by the detector (7). The invention also relates to an apparatus comprising two optical elements providing a final third intensity profile (distribution) which is the convolution of two mathematical transformations corresponding to each of optical element one and four, respectively.

An apparatus for characterizing luminescent entities by excitation comprising: a substrate (6) being in contact with a solution comprising luminescent entities; a source of electromagnetic radiation (4) providing at least a primary beam of radiation (8); an objective (5); a first optical element (1) capable of transforming the intensity profile of the primary beam (8) into an arbitrary secondary intensity profile (distribution) (9); a second optical element (2) capable of separating (discriminating) radiation by wavelength; and a detector (7), where the arbitrary secondary intensity profile has at least an off-center circular continuous intensity distribution (33) focused on the back focal plane (12) of the objective forming a collimated beam (10) capable of creating an evanescent field on the side of the substrate where the solution comprising luminescent entities are located, where the evanescent field excites the luminescent entities thereby creating emission radiation separated by the second optical element (2) and captioned by the detector (7). The invention also relates to an apparatus comprising two optical elements providing a final third intensity profile (distribution) which is the convolution of two mathematical transformations corresponding to each of optical element one and four, respectively.

A lighting device for total-internal-reflection fluorescence microscopy includes a substrate that is transparent to light, having a refractive index higher than that of water; a light-emitting device arranged in the interior of the substrate, suitable for emitting light radiation in the direction of a surface of the substrate, the light-emitting device being arranged such that at least one portion of the radiation reaches the surface with an angle of incidence larger than or equal to a critical angle of total internal reflection for an interface between the substrate and water; and at least one opaque mask, arranged in the interior or on the surface of the substrate so as to intercept a portion of the radiation that, in the absence of the mask, would reach the surface with an angle of incidence smaller than the critical angle. A lighting device to total-internal-reflection fluorescence microscopy is provided.

A lighting device for total-internal-reflection fluorescence microscopy includes a substrate that is transparent to light, having a refractive index higher than that of water; a light-emitting device arranged in the interior of the substrate, suitable for emitting light radiation in the direction of a surface of the substrate, the light-emitting device being arranged such that at least one portion of the radiation reaches the surface with an angle of incidence larger than or equal to a critical angle of total internal reflection for an interface between the substrate and water; and at least one opaque mask, arranged in the interior or on the surface of the substrate so as to intercept a portion of the radiation that, in the absence of the mask, would reach the surface with an angle of incidence smaller than the critical angle. A lighting device to total-internal-reflection fluorescence microscopy is provided.

A device for shielding at least one sub-wavelength-scale object from an electromagnetic wave, which is incident on said device, comprises at least one layer of a dielectric material, a surface of which having at least one abrupt change of level forming a step. At least a lower and lateral part of the surface with respect to the step is in contact with a medium having a refractive index lower than that of the dielectric material. The at least one sub-wavelength-scale object is located within the device in a quiet zone where an electromagnetic field intensity is below a threshold, the quiet zone extending above said surface, in the vicinity of the step, in a direction of incidence of said electromagnetic wave.