A prism coupling system configured to determine at least one stress characteristic in a chemically strengthened substrate having a surface and a near-surface waveguide has a a light source system that generates measurement light. A coupling prism provides optical coupling of the measurement light into and out of the near-surface waveguide over an optical path that comprises a low-angle region and a high-angle region. A detector system arranged to receive the measurement light from the coupling prism to detect a mode spectrum image. A light-blocking member is operably disposed to at least partially extend into the low-angle region without extending into the high-angle region to increase or optimize the contrast of the mode spectrum image.

Disclosed is a diffractive optical element includes a substrate (BS) having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface, being transparent to light in at least one spectral range and having, in the spectral range, a refractive index that is greater than that of water, at least one metasurface able to diffract light radiation of wavelength λ within the spectral range, incident with an angle of incidence, according to a diffracted radiation, so that the diffracted radiation propagates in the substrate and reaches the second surface of the substrate at a diffracted angle θ.sub.d that is greater than or equal to a limit angle (θ.sub.c) of total internal reflection between the substrate and water, the metasurface being designed to have, for the angle of incidence, a transmission with a 0 order of diffraction below 5% and a transmission of the diffracted radiation corresponding to a −1 or +1 order of diffraction above 50%.

Disclosed is a diffractive optical element includes a substrate (BS) having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface, being transparent to light in at least one spectral range and having, in the spectral range, a refractive index that is greater than that of water, at least one metasurface able to diffract light radiation of wavelength λ within the spectral range, incident with an angle of incidence, according to a diffracted radiation, so that the diffracted radiation propagates in the substrate and reaches the second surface of the substrate at a diffracted angle θ.sub.d that is greater than or equal to a limit angle (θ.sub.c) of total internal reflection between the substrate and water, the metasurface being designed to have, for the angle of incidence, a transmission with a 0 order of diffraction below 5% and a transmission of the diffracted radiation corresponding to a −1 or +1 order of diffraction above 50%.

A light transmission structure is provided for use, in conjunction with a light source and detector, for selective detection of biomolecule interactions and/or absorption of infrared light. The light transmission structure includes a substrate having a bottom surface adapted to couple the light source and detector to the light transmission structure, a coupling and enhancing layer disposed on at least a portion of an upper surface of the substrate, a first near-critical angle anti-reflective coating (NCA-ARC) layer disposed on at least a portion of an upper surface of the coupling and enhancing layer, and a second NCA-ARC layer disposed on at least a portion of an upper surface of the first NCA-ARC layer. An upper surface of the second NCA-ARC layer is functionalized and textured so that transmitted incident light is scattered out of the light transmission structure. A difference in refractive index between adjacent NCA-ARC layers is less than about 0.01.

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.

The disclosure relates to an image sensor comprising pixels for acquiring color information from incoming visible light, wherein said image sensor comprising at least two pixels being partially covered by a color splitter structure comprising a first part and a second part, each of said first and second parts being adjacent to a dielectric part, each of said dielectric part having a first refractive index n.sub.1 (said first part having a second refractive index n.sub.2, and said second part having a third refractive index n.sub.3, wherein n.sub.1<n.sub.3<n.sub.2, and wherein according to a cross section, the first part of said color splitter structure has a first width W.sub.1, a height H and the second part of said color splitter structure has a second width W.sub.2, and the same height H, and wherein said color splitter structure has a first, a second and a third edges at the interfaces between parts having different refractive indexes, each edge generating beams or nanojets, and wherein said height H is close to a value Formul (I), where Θ.sub.B1 and Θ.sub.B3 are tan Θ.sub.B1 and are respectively radiation angles of a first and a third beams generated by said first and third edges, and wherein one of said at least two pixels records light associated with a first wavelength λ-.sub.1 and the other of said at least two pixels records light having a spectrum in which no or few electromagnetic waves having a wavelength equal to λ-.sub.1 are present, wherein said first wavelength λ-.sub.1 being either high or small in a range of visible light.

Sub-diffraction limited magneto-optical microscopy, such as Kerr or Faraday effect microscopy, provide many advantages to fields of science and technology for measuring, or imaging, the magnetization structures and magnetization domains of materials. Disclosed is a method and system for performing sub-diffraction limited magneto-optic microscopy. The method includes positioning a microlens or microlens layer relative to a surface of a sample to image the surface of the sample, forming a photonic nanojet to probe the surface of the sample, and receiving light reflected by the surface of the sample or transmitted through the sample at an imaging sensor. The methods and associated systems and devices enable sub-diffraction limited imaging of magnetic domains at resolutions 2 to 8 times the classical diffraction limit.

Sub-diffraction limited magneto-optical microscopy, such as Kerr or Faraday effect microscopy, provide many advantages to fields of science and technology for measuring, or imaging, the magnetization structures and magnetization domains of materials. Disclosed is a method and system for performing sub-diffraction limited magneto-optic microscopy. The method includes positioning a microlens or microlens layer relative to a surface of a sample to image the surface of the sample, forming a photonic nanojet to probe the surface of the sample, and receiving light reflected by the surface of the sample or transmitted through the sample at an imaging sensor. The methods and associated systems and devices enable sub-diffraction limited imaging of magnetic domains at resolutions 2 to 8 times the classical diffraction limit.

A microscope system has an illumination optical system comprising a multi-mode optical fibre having an egress for emitting a laser beam. The egress is located in a plane that is conjugate to the microscope sample plane. The illumination optical system is configured such that the laser beam is incident at the objective lens laterally displaced from the principal optical axis of the objective lens in order that the objective lens delivers the laser beam to the sample plane at an angle that is oblique to the principal optical axis. Utilization of a multi-mode optical fibre for laser delivery in oblique illumination microscopy, such as TIRF microscopy, solves problems associated with using single-mode optical fibres such as alignment and uniformity of illumination.