An optical chemical analysis apparatus (14) includes an optical waveguide (15) and a light source (17). The optical waveguide (15) has a core layer (12) that includes a light propagator (10), through which light can propagate in an extension direction, and a diffraction grating (first diffraction grating (11)) that connects optically to the light propagator (10). The light source (17) is configured to inject the light into the diffraction grating by emitting incoherent light. The diffraction grating further includes a light intake region for introduction of light from the light source, and the light source includes at least one light emitting point at a position such that the difference between the shortest optical distance Lab to the light intake region and the longest optical distance Lac to the light intake region is less than half of the wavelength, in a vacuum, of the light.

An example system includes an elongated body, a fluorescent material, and a diffuse reflector. The elongated body defines a lumen and includes a proximal portion and a distal portion. The fluorescent material is configured to be in fluid communication with a fluid in the lumen. The diffuse reflector is configured to diffuse excitation light received from an excitation light source and direct the diffused excitation light toward the fluorescent material and diffuse the fluoresced light received from the fluorescence material and direct the fluoresced light toward a fluorescent light detector.

The invention relates to a system (15) for observing a plate (10) including wells (20), including, for each well (20): a source (40) comprising a light-emitting diode (60) capable of producing a light ray, a pinhole (70), and a light integrator (65), an optical sensor (185) able to collect the optical signal from the well (20), the system (15) being such that: a ratio between the length and the average transverse dimension (Dt) of each light integrator (65) is greater than or equal to 2.2, or at least one optical axis is off-centered relative to the propagation line, the ratio between the length and the average transverse dimension of the integrator being greater than or equal to 1.5.

Additive manufacturing, such as laser sintering or melting of additive layers, can produce parts rapidly at small volume and in a factory setting. To ensure the additive manufactured parts are of high quality, a real-time non-destructive evaluation (NDE) technique is required to detect defects while they are being manufactured. The present invention describes an in-situ (real-time) inspection unit that can be added to an existing additive manufacturing (AM) tool, such as an FDM (fused deposition modeling) machine, or a direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) machine, providing real-time information about the part quality, and detecting flaws as they occur. The information provided by this unit is used to a) qualify the part as it is being made, and b) to provide feedback to the AM tool for correction, or to stop the process if the part will not meet the quality, thus saving time, energy and reduce material loss.

Provided herein are enhanced imaging techniques which allow for the use of multiple optical sensors, each of which corresponds to only a portion of an array, including utilizing individual sensors for each individual well of a multi-well plate. The provided systems and methods may reduce the amount of time to perform optical analysis of an array, reduce the amount of moving parts or mechanical devices required to perform optical analysis and/or reduce the amount of space between the sensors and the array being analyzed resulting in more compact, efficient optical analyzers.

Provided herein is an apparatus for assessing a fluorescence characteristic of a gemstone. The apparatus comprises an optically opaque platform for supporting a gemstone to be assessed, one or more light source to provide uniform UV and non-UV illumination, an image capturing component, and a telecentric lens positioned to provide fluorescent images of the illuminated gemstone to the image capturing component. Also provided are methods of fluorescence analysis based on images collected using such an apparatus.

One or more embodiments relates to a method of growing ultrasmooth and high quantum efficiency CsTe photocathodes. The method includes exposing a substrate of Cs using an alkali source such as an effusion cell; and controlling co-evaporating growth and co-deposition forming a CsTe growth. The method further includes monitoring a stoichiometry of the CsTe growth.

We describe a capnometer for detecting a concentration of a component in a gas, wherein said gas is inhaled and/or exhaled by a patient, said capnometer comprising: an air flow region through which said gas passes to and/or from said patient's lung; a mid-IR semiconductor emitter configured to provide IR light at a wavelength in the range 3-5 m; a mid-IR semiconductor detector to detect said IR light; a reflector to reflect said IR light emitted by said emitter; wherein said emitter, said detector and said reflector are arranged such that said IR light emitted by said emitter passes through said air flow region via said reflector to said detector. The reflector is selected from a Fresnel reflector and a reflective diffractive optical element, such as.a Fresnel zone plate.

An inspection apparatus for inspecting a flow of particulate material, comprising: a background reflector (105) adjacent which in use falls a flow of particulate material (F); and a lighting unit (107) for illuminating an elongate viewing field (VF) across the background reflector (105), the viewing field (VF) having a first width (w.sub.1); wherein the lighting unit (107) comprises a fixed, non-scanning light source (115), and the light source (115) is formed of one or more light elements (120) which define a second width (w.sub.2) which is shorter than the first width (w.sub.1) of the viewing field (VF).

Imaging systems and methods with scattering to reduce source auto-fluorescence and improve uniformity. In some embodiments, the system may include a plurality of trans-illumination light sources configured to irradiate an examination region with different colors of trans-illumination light, while a same diffuser is present in each optical path from the trans-illumination light sources to the examination region. The system also may comprise an excitation light source configured to irradiate the examination region with excitation light. The system may be configured to irradiate the examination region with each of the trans-illumination light sources and, optionally, with the excitation light source, without moving parts in any of the optical paths from the trans-illumination light sources. The system further may comprise an image detector configured to detect grayscale images of the examination region, and a processor configured to create a color trans-illumination image from grayscale images.