Patent ID: 7126694
Filing Date: 2006-10-24
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
1. An apparatus comprising: a compact package having a first portion and a second portion, wherein the first portion has a first opening, and the second portion has a second opening, wherein the first opening is at an angle with respect to the second opening; a first transmitter inside the compact package to generate a first pair of coherent beams with a substantially high pointing stability, wherein the coherent beams of the first pair are guided by a free space optics inside the package to propagate through space along a first axis and through the first opening in the first portion to cross each other outside the package at a first angle in a first plane to form a sample volume to illuminate a spherical object outside the compact package; and a receiver inside the compact package to sense through the second opening in the second portion a first light scattered from the spherical object, wherein the receiver comprises three photodetectors to measure a size and a first velocity component of the spherical object.