Patent ID: 8873036

Claim:
A spectroscopic system, comprising: an excitation source configured to provide single-wavelength light in a first direction; a first optical element optically coupled to the excitation source and operative as a beam combiner; a second optical element optically coupled to the first optical element to receive light from the first optical element along a first region of a common optical pathway that includes inelastically scattered radiation returning from a sample in a second direction that is opposite the first direction, the second optical element configured to separate the light from the excitation source from the common optical pathway prior to sample irradiation; a third optical element optically coupled to the second optical element and configured to receive the separated light from the second optical element to provide the received light to a sample space along a second region of the common optical pathway, the third optical element further configured to receive inelastically scattered radiation from the sample in the sample space and to provide the inelastically scattered radiation to a detector; and a fourth optical element in an optical path between the third optical element and the second optical element, the fourth optical element configured to manipulate the inelastically scattered radiation, wherein the third optical element is also optically coupled to the first optical element to provide the inelastically scattered radiation to the detector at an angle that is about 180 degrees from the angle of the provided received light.