Patent ID: 7440102

Claim:
A system for analyzing polarized light back-scattered from a sample, the system comprising: an optical beamsplitter means operative to receive an incident ray of light, to direct at least a portion of the incident ray to a sample, to receive a back-scattered ray from the sample, and to reflect at least a portion of the back-scattered ray as a reflected back-scattered ray; a polarization separator located to receive the reflected back-scattered ray, the polarization separator being operative to divide the reflected back-scattered ray into a transverse-electric (TE) component and a transverse-magnetic (TM) component; an array of light detectors located to receive the TE component and the TM component, the array being operative to acquire information corresponding to the respective intensities of the TE component and the TM component; and a slit aperture located to receive the reflected back-scattered ray from the optical beamsplitter means, the slit aperture being operative to modify the reflected back-scattered ray spatially prior to the polarization separator receiving the modified reflected back-scattered ray.