Methods for determining suitability of a silicon substrate for epitaxy and/or for determining slip resistance during epitaxy and post-epitaxy thermal treatment are disclosed. The methods involve evaluating different substrates of the epitaxial wafers by imaging the wafer by infrared depolarization. An infrared depolarization parameter is generated for each epitaxial wafer. The parameters may be compared to determine which substrates are well-suited for epitaxial and/or post-epi heat treatments.

A method of determining a material property of an object. The method comprises: obtaining a real light intensity value for each of a first number of light source positions and each of a second number of light sensor positions, the real light intensity value indicating an intensity of light from the light source position that is reflected or diffused by an object to the light sensor position; determining a three-dimensional surface of the object; and for each of a plurality of points on the three-dimensional surface of the object, using a model that has been trained by machine learning, predicting the material property for the object at the point based on the obtained real light intensity values.

A method of measuring optical properties of a specimen includes generating illumination light at a plurality of illumination wavelengths and, for each of the plurality of illumination wavelengths, directing the illumination light to impinge on the specimen, collecting sample light passing through the specimen, and detecting the collected sample light using a polarization state analyzer to form a set of polarization channels. The method also includes receiving a calibration tensor, converting the set of polarization channels for each of the illumination wavelengths into Stokes parameter maps using the calibration tensor, denoising the Stokes parameter maps, and deconvolving the Stokes parameter maps to provide density, anisotropy, and orientation measurements of the specimen. The method can multiplex intrinsic density, anisotropy, and orientation measurements of the specimen and density, anisotropy, and orientation measurements of labeled fluorescent molecules.

The invention describes a device (1) for characterizing the rough profile of a tissue sample comprising: a laser source (2) that illuminates the surface (100) of the tissue; a photodetector (3) that receives the light backscattered by the surface (100) of the tissue; and further a displacement means (4) configured to alternate between a first position wherein a rotating ground glass (5) is disposed within the path of the laser beam towards the surface (100), a second position wherein a rotating half wave blade (6) is disposed within the path of the laser beam towards the surface (100); and a third position wherein within the path of the laser beam towards the surface (100) neither the ground glass plate (5) nor the half wave blade (6) are arranged, or the half wave blade (6) is arranged in a fixed non-rotating position.

Existing Mueller Matrix polarization techniques that rely only on polarization properties are insufficient for accurate characterization of transparent objects. Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method and system for Mueller Matrix polarimetric characterization of transparent object using optical properties along with the polarization properties to accurately characterize the transparent object. The polarization properties of are derived from a decomposed Mueller matrix element. Additionally, the method derives the optical properties by further subjecting the decomposed Mueller matrix element to Fresnel’s law-based analysis and a reverse Monte Carlo analysis to extract optical properties such as a material refractive index and a material attenuation index. Optical properties vary with changes in the material property caused due to several factors such as manufacturing defect, aberration, inclusion of an impurity such as bubble or dust etc. Thus, considering the optical properties along with the polarization properties enables enhanced, accurate characterization of the transparent object.

An analysis system comprises a transmitting device (1.1) and a receiving device (1.2). The transmitting devices comprises means for illuminating an object (1.3), or a part of the object, by a first light beam (1.8) consisting of signals with two distinct frequencies and first orthogonal polarisation states. The receiving device comprises means (1.6) for detecting, in a second light beam with second polarisation states and resulting from the illumination of the object to be analysed by the first light beam, a signal at a beat frequency equal to a difference between the two frequencies of the first light beam; and means (1.7) for obtaining information relating to the depolarising or dichroic character of the object, or of the part of the object, according to the detection or not of a signal at the beat frequency.

Methods, apparatuses, and systems for detecting and classifying individual airborne biological and non-biological particles, in real time, based on particle size and polarized elastic scatter. Auto-fluorescence content may also be used along with particle size and polarized elastic scatter for further orthogonal classification. With polarized elastic scattering, the degree of linear or circular depolarization produced from particle morphology, refractive index, internal asymmetric structures and molecular optical activity can be used for classifying individual airborne particles. Alternatively, circular intensity differential scattering (CIDS) or linear intensity differential scattering (LIDS) can be used to discriminate individual particles.

Reflected light detecting device and method with surface reflected light components collectively be extracted/removed when detecting reflected light arising in casting light onto target-object range having non-planar surface. The device includes: a first illuminating device causing first-measurement light in predetermined polarization direction to enter target-object first region from first direction; polarization optical system position part of first-surface reflected light enters the polarization optical system, the first-surface reflected light being the first-measurement in the first region surface; a second illuminating device causing second-measurement light in the same first-measurement light polarization direction to enter second region from second direction, the second region being on the target-object surface, different from the first region; adjusting direction of the second-measurement light optical axis so part of second-surface reflected light enters the polarization optical system, the second-surface reflected light being the second-measurement in second region surface; and detecting light having passed through the polarization optical system.

Apparatus and methods are disclosed for measuring polarization properties and phase information, for example as can be used in microscopy applications. According to one example of the disclosed technology, an apparatus includes a light source, an interferometer configured to receive light generated by the light source and split the received light into two split beam outputs. The split beam outputs including combined, interfering light beams. Two light sensors, each including a polarization-sensitive focal plane array receive a respective one of the split beam outputs from the interferometer. Thus, some examples of the disclosed technology allows for simultaneous or concurrent measurement of properties of light including intensity, wavelength, polarization, and phase. The polarization-sensitive focal plane array includes a number of macropixels, each of which includes superpixels having different polarization filtering properties, each of which includes one or more pixels, which comprise filters for different colors.

The optical reader for analyzing biological samples comprises a reading plane (3) for receiving a microplate (1), an illuminating arrangement (4) configured to illuminate samples in the wells (2) of the microplate (1), an imaging device (6) arranged to receive light from the microplate (1), a beam splitter (7), which is arranged to direct light from the illuminating arrangement (4) towards the reading plane (3) and to direct light received from the microplate (1) to the imaging device (6), and a lens system (8) arranged between the beam splitter (7) and the reading plane (3) to focus the light received from the illuminating arrangement (4) to a sample and to focus an image of the sample to the imaging device (6). The optical reader is configured to transmit from the illuminating arrangement (4) to the lens system (8) only light having a specific polarization, and the optical reader comprises a polarizer (10, 19) that is arranged between the lens system (8) and the imaging device (6) and configured to block polarized light reflected from the surfaces of the lens system (8).