A seamless fumed silica monolithic integrating cavity device tailored to analyzing a flowed sample. The device is configured to facilitate optical measurements taken from a sample flowed through a cavity of the device. The cavity is defined by a fumed silica monolith with the added feature of a fused quartz lining on the surface of the monolith. This provides an intermediate surface that allows for cleaning and reuse of the highly effective diffuse light scattering fumed silica monolith. The lining may be placed under pressure or vacuum to structurally enhance mechanical integrity of the underlying monolith. Thus, continued or reliably repeated use of the device may be appreciated as well as use in more industrial environments that are prone to vibration. Additionally, while well suited for flow-based sample analysis, a valve of the cavity may be utilized for holding a sample in a temporarily static state for measurement.

Multi-pass cavities for cavity ring-down spectroscopy. The multi-pass cavity includes, in one example, a body, a pair of flat mirrors, a light input coupler, a first turning mirror, a second turning mirror, and a light output coupler. The pair of flat mirrors are positioned parallel to each other within a gas channel of the body. The light input coupler is configured to direct a light beam into the gas channel along a first transmission axis. The first turning mirror is configured to reflect the light beam from the first transmission axis toward the resonance cavity. The light output coupler is configured to direct a first portion of the light beam out of the gas channel and reflect a second portion of the light beam along a second transmission axis. The second turning mirror is configured to reflect the light beam from the second transmission axis to the resonance cavity.

A measurement system is provided with an array of laser diodes with one or more Bragg reflectors. At least a portion of the light generated by the array is configured to penetrate tissue comprising skin. A detection system configured to: measure a phase shift, and a time-of-flight, of at least a portion of the light from the array of laser diodes reflected from the tissue relative to the portion of the light generated by the array; generate one or more images of the tissue; detect oxy- or deoxy-hemoglobin in the tissue; non-invasively measure blood in blood vessels within or below a dermis layer within the skin; measure one or more physiological parameters based at least in part on the non-invasively measured blood; and measure a variation in the blood or physiological parameter over a period of time.

A structure of thermal stress release of photo-excited thermal infrared emitter includes a substrate, a VCSEL unit, a frame, and a layered structure. The VCSEL unit has a small emission angle disposed on a portion of the substrate. The frame is disposed on the substrate, and has an interior side wall inclinedly extended upwardly to form a cavity in which the portion of the substrate is to be exposed. The layered structure is above the VCSEL unit and includes a first light-transparent passivation layer, a light absorbing and thermal infrared emitting layer, and a second light-transparent passivation layer formed in sequence for chemical protection. The light absorbing and thermal infrared emitting absorbs light emitted from the VCSEL unit to generate infrared radiation, and has a layout geometry of reticulated mosaic size such that thermal expansion mismatch and induced stress are minimized without accumulation due to small reticulated mosaic size.

Wearable apparatus for monitoring various physiological and environmental factors are provided. Real-time, noninvasive health and environmental monitors include a plurality of compact sensors integrated within small, low-profile devices, such as earpiece modules. Physiological and environmental data is collected and wirelessly transmitted into a wireless network, where the data is stored and/or processed.

Fluorescence imaging system designs are described that provide larger fields-of-view, increased spatial resolution, improved modulation transfer and image quality, higher spatial sampling frequency, faster transitions between image capture when repositioning the sample plane to capture a series of images (e.g., of different fields-of-view), and improved imaging system duty cycle, and thus enable higher throughput image acquisition and analysis for genomics and other imaging applications.

Arrangements and methods are provided for obtaining information associated with an anatomical sample. For example, at least one first electro-magnetic radiation can be provided to the anatomical sample so as to generate at least one acoustic wave in the anatomical sample. At least one second electro-magnetic radiation can be produced based on the acoustic wave. At least one portion of at least one second electro-magnetic radiation can be provided so as to determine information associated with at least one portion of the anatomical sample. In addition, the information based on data associated with the second electro-magnetic radiation can be analyzed. The first electro-magnetic radiation may include at least one first magnitude and at least one first frequency. The second electro-magnetic radiation can include at least one second magnitude and at least one second frequency. The data may relate to a first difference between the first and second magnitudes and/or a second difference between the first and second frequencies. The second difference may be approximately between −100 GHz and 100 GHz, excluding zero.

Building blocks are provided for on-chip chemical sensors and other highly-compact photonic integrated circuits combining interband or quantum cascade lasers and detectors with passive waveguides and other components integrated on a III-V or silicon. A MWIR or LWIR laser source is evanescently coupled into a passive extended or resonant-cavity waveguide that provides evanescent coupling to a sample gas (or liquid) for spectroscopic chemical sensing. In the case of an ICL, the uppermost layer of this passive waveguide has a relatively high index of refraction that enables it to form the core of the waveguide, while the ambient air, consisting of the sample gas, functions as the top cladding layer. A fraction of the propagating light beam is absorbed by the sample gas if it contains a chemical species having a fingerprint absorption feature within the spectral linewidth of the laser emission.

There is provided a method of calibrating a sensor comprising a luminescent compound having a luminescence that depends on the concentration of an analyte, and a detector configured to detect light emitted by the luminescent compound, the method comprising providing a component comprising the luminescent compound in a package that maintains exposure of the luminescent compound to the analyte at a known first concentration, assembling the component into the sensor and measuring a first value of a characteristic of the luminescence of the luminescent compound while exposed to the analyte at the first concentration, measuring a second value of the characteristic of the luminescence of the luminescent compound while exposed to the analyte at a known second concentration different from the first concentration, and determining parameters representing the dependence of the characteristic of the luminescence on concentration of the analyte using the first value and the second value.

The present invention is intended to reduce variations in oscillation wavenumber of a semiconductor laser element due to the influence of circumferential temperatures. The invention includes a semiconductor laser semiconductor laser element, a temperature control part to control a temperature of the semiconductor laser element, a temperature sensor to detect a temperature of the temperature control part, and a temperature control device to control a supply signal to the temperature control part so that a detected temperature obtained from the temperature sensor reaches a predetermined target temperature. The temperature control device changes a target temperature for the temperature control part depending on a supply signal to the temperature control part.