Patent ID: 7576348
Filing Date: 2009-08-18
Classification: G01D

Abstract:
1. A method for imaging a surface, comprising: generating a traveling lens in an acousto-optic material; incorporating a traveling mask into a portion of the traveling lens so as to produce a composite traveling lens; irradiating the composite traveling lens so as to produce a composite focused beam having a spatial variation across the composite focused beam; directing the composite focused beam onto a region of the surface so as to generate radiation characteristic of the region therefrom; and imaging the radiation onto a detector so as to generate, responsively to the spatial variation of the composite focused beam, a signal characteristic of the region, wherein generating the traveling lens comprises generating a radio-frequency (RF) pulse having a variable frequency, and wherein incorporating the traveling mask comprises incorporating a step function change in at least one of a phase and an amplitude of the RF pulse, and exciting a transducer coupled to the acoustic-optic material with the RF pulse.