Patent ID: 8634067
Filing Date: 2014-01-21
Classification: G02B

Abstract:
1. An apparatus comprising: a broadband illumination source capable of providing light to illuminate at least a portion of an object; a confocal optical system configured and arranged to receive a portion of light projected onto the object by the broadband illumination source, wherein the confocal optical system defines a confocal volume on the object; a spectral separation device coupled to the confocal optical system, the spectral separation device configured to separate at least a portion of the light received by the confocal optical system from the object into a plurality of spectra based on wavelength; and at least one detector arranged to receive at least a portion of the light received by the confocal optical system and separated by the spectral separation device, the at least one detector configured to produce output comprising spectroscopic information about a scatter pattern of the light scattered from the object, received by the confocal optical system, separated by the spectral separation device and received by the at least one detector.