A light modulating device includes a dispersion assembly and a lens assembly, the dispersion assembly is configured to disperse light emitting from a light source into dispersed light which at least includes collimated monochromatic light and non-collimated monochromatic light; the lens assembly includes: at least a first lens component; at least a second lens component disposed in a one-to-one correspondence with the first lens component; a first absorbing layer disposed between the first lens component and the second lens component, the first absorbing layer has an opening, a focus point of the first lens component towards the first absorbing layer coincides with a focus point of the second lens component towards the first absorbing layer, the opening is disposed at the coincident focus point of the first lens component and the second lens component.

A nano-structured optical wavelength transmission filter is provided. The optical filter includes a patterned substrate on which a high refractive index dielectric waveguide is arranged. A low index dielectric layer is arranged on the high refractive index dielectric waveguide, on which an array of metallic nanostructures is arranged. The layers of the optical filter have conformal shapes defined by a patterned surface of the substrate. An optical filter system includes the optical transmission filter and a detector array fixed to the substrate. A spectrometer includes at least one optical transmission filter and/or at least one said optical transmission filter system, and has a spectral resolution of lower than 30 nm for incident light having a wavelength between 300 nm and 790 nm. A method of fabrication of an optical filter, an optical filter system and a spectrometer is also described.

The present disclosure relates to a dispersion apparatus. The dispersion apparatus may include an optical substrate; a grating layer on a first side of the optical substrate; and a light outlet layer on a second side of the optical substrate, the second side opposite the first side of the optical substrate. The grating layer is configured to perform dispersion of incident light into first-order diffracted beams having target wavelengths and transmit the first-order diffracted beams into the optical substrate, and wherein a diffraction angle of each of the first-order diffracted beams having the target wavelengths is smaller than a total reflection angle between the optical substrate and air. The light outlet layer is configured to extract the first-order diffracted beams having the target wavelengths in the optical substrate.

A grating element has an interface configured to cause light beams, include N visible color lights, incident to the interface to diffract at different orders. An imaging lens is configured to focus the N visible color lights diffracted by the grating element. A sensor is configured to receive and detect the focused N visible color lights. The focused N visible color lights include at least a first color light and a second color light. The first color light is diffracted in a first diffraction order and corresponds to a first wavelength resolution for the first color light. The second color light is diffracted in a second diffraction order and corresponds to a second wavelength resolution for the second color light. The first diffraction order is higher than the second diffraction order and the first wavelength resolution is smaller than the second wavelength resolution.

A light wavelength measurement method of measuring a wavelength of target light includes: receiving target light on a second dispersion device that disperses the target light into a plurality of second beams which reach a plurality of positions corresponding to the wavelength of the target light; and measuring the wavelength of the target light, by using the plurality of the second beams as a vernier scale for measuring the wavelength of the target light within a wavelength range specified by a main scale.

A method and apparatus is provided for implementing a parametric down-conversion (PDC)-based calibration comprising calibrating a measuring instrument; disposing a pinhole at a position of a light-emitting sample for which the measuring instrument needs to be calibrated; irradiating a nonlinear crystal with a light source; setting the nonlinear crystal by ensuring a phase-matching wavelength of the nonlinear crystal is set at one boundary of a desired bandwidth; acquiring one or more PDC spectrums by the measuring instrument; obtaining peak values and their corresponding wavelengths from each acquired spectrum; and obtaining a response function based on the peak values and corresponding wavelengths.

Apparatuses, systems, and methods for Raman spectroscopy are described. In certain implementations, a spectrometer is provided. The spectrometer may include a plurality of optical elements, comprising an entrance aperture, a collimating element, a volume phase holographic grating, a focusing element, and a detector array. The plurality of optical elements are configured to transfer the light beam from the entrance aperture to the detector array with a high transfer efficiency over a preselected spectral band.

A grating element has an interface configured to cause light beams, include N visible color lights, incident to the interface to diffract at different orders. An imaging lens is configured to focus the N visible color lights diffracted by the grating element. A sensor is configured to receive and detect the focused N visible color lights. The focused N visible color lights include at least a first color light and a second color light. The first color light is diffracted in a first diffraction order and corresponds to a first wavelength resolution for the first color light. The second color light is diffracted in a second diffraction order and corresponds to a second wavelength resolution for the second color light. The first diffraction order is higher than the second diffraction order and the first wavelength resolution is smaller than the second wavelength resolution.

The invention provides a combination of a sample container and energy dispersion device, and method of manufacture. Among possible applications is construction of compact spectrometers optimized for a single use. The sample container includes diffraction gratings such that, when the container is illuminated with collimated light and observed with optics focused at infinity, one obtains an optical spectrum useful for identifying and measuring the concentration of specimens placed in the container, applicable for chemical analysis and for screening fluids for chemical or biological analysis. The invention further provides methods to fabricate a combination of a sample container and energy dispersion device, wherein one such method utilizes an inflatable bladder and temperature-controlled templates to emboss gratings on both outside and inside faces of a given cuvette.

An inspection apparatus is provided that comprises an optical target including a solid host material and a fluorescing material embedded in the solid host material. The solid host material has a predetermined phonon energy HOST.sub.PE. The fluorescing material exhibits a select ground energy level and a target excitation (TE) energy level separated from the ground energy level by a first energy gap corresponding to a fluorescence emission wavelength of interest. The fluorescing material has a next lower lying (NLL) energy level relative to the TE energy level. The NLL energy level is spaced a second energy gap FM.sub.EG2 below the TE energy level, wherein a ratio of the FM.sub.EG2/HOST.sub.PE is three or more.