Abstract: A microscope which comprises: an optical system for magnifying a sample; a focus adjuster for adjusting a focus of the optical system on the sample; an optical detector for detecting light through the optical system; a position estimator for estimating a position of the focus of the optical system, which stays with respect to the sample, based on the light detected by the optical detector while the optical system is vibrating with respect to the sample; and a controller for controlling the focus adjuster based on the position of the focus estimated by the position estimator, is disclosed. An auto focusing method for a microscope is also disclosed.

Abstract: The photoelectric encoder of the present invention has a light-emitting device and light-receiving devices arranged in one direction in a region that light from the light-emitting device can reach. When a moving object that alternately has a light-on portion that produces a state in which light is incident on the light-receiving device and a light-off portion that produces a state in which light is not incident on the light-receiving device passes at a prescribed movement frequency in the one direction, an output of each of the light-receiving devices takes a value corresponding to the incidence or nonincidence of light on the light-receiving device. A logical operating section carries out operation of the logical values expressed by the outputs of the light-receiving devices to form an output signal that has a frequency different from the movement frequency.

Abstract: The invention relates to a measuring arrangement comprising a sensor head (13) that can be displaced over a surface (11) at a distance therefrom in a scanning direction (R), a plurality of distance sensors which are suitable for distance measurement and are interspaced in the scanning direction in a fixed manner, a displacement device for displacing the sensor head (13) in such a way that points of the surface (11) are detected in successive scanning steps carried out by a plurality of distance sensors, and an evaluation device to which the output signals of the distance sensors are supplied. According to the invention, one such measuring arrangement is improved by an angle measuring device (14, 15) for determining an angle value of the sensor head (13) in relation to the scanning direction (R), and for forwarding said angle value to the evaluation device. In this way, systematic measuring errors can be eliminated for the reconstruction of a topography of the surface (11) in the scanning direction (R).

Abstract: A contact image sensor is provided including a housing, a slit plate a lens, one or two light sources and a light-receiving element array mounted on a light-receiving element array substrate. The housing contains the slit plate, the lens, the one or two light sources and the light-receiving element array substrate. The optical system of the contact image sensor is aligned and one or more depressions are formed on an end of the substrate for the alignment. Power to the one or two light sources is applied through one or more leads. Each of the one or more depressions is large enough so that each of the leads can be passed through the respective depressions.

Abstract: An improved imaging device having a pixel arrangement featuring a multilayer light shield. The multilayer light shield includes stacked layers of light-shielding and light-transparent material. The light-transparent material, such as a dielectric, is selected to have a stress, such as a tensile stress, that offsets the stress, such as a compressive stress, of the light shielding material. Without the stress offset, the high compressive stress of the refractory metal could damage the integrity of the nearby silicon. The refractory metal is capable of withstanding the high temperatures associated with front end CMOS processing. The laminate structure allows the light shield to be placed close to the pixel surface. The light-transparent material has a thickness equal to about one-quarter wavelength of the light to be blocked, to act as an anti-reflective coating. An aperture in the light shield exposes the active region of the pixel's photoconversion device.

Abstract: An exemplary Two-Dimensional Optical encoder (“2-D Encoder”) described herein includes a light emitter and a light detector array. The light detector array includes at least one band of light detectors arranged on at least one diagonal of an X-Y grid having an X-axis and a Y-axis, wherein the X-axis and Y-axis are approximately orthogonal.

Abstract: A method of operating an imager pixel that includes the act of applying a relatively small voltage on the gate of a transfer transistor during a charge acquisition period. If a small positive voltage is applied, a depletion region is created under the transfer transistor gate, which creates a path for dark current electrons to be transferred to a pixel floating diffusion region. The dark electrons are subsequently removed by a pixel reset operation. If a small negative voltage is applied to the transfer gate, electrons that would normally create dark current problems will instead recombine with holes thereby substantially reducing dark current.

Abstract: An image projection apparatus which adjusts a white balance in consideration of levels of light emitted from light-emitting diodes and a white balance adjustment method thereof. The image projection apparatus comprises a light source unit for sequentially emitting lights generated by a red (R)-light emitting element, a green (G)-light emitting element, and a blue (B)-light emitting element. An image generation unit generates an image using the lights sequentially emitted from the light source unit and projecting the image. A driving unit drives the light source unit and the image generation unit. A light sensor measures levels of lights generated by the R-light emitting element, the G-light emitting element, and the B-light emitting element. A controller controls a driving operation of the driving unit based on the levels of lights measured by the light sensor to adjust a white balance of the image projected from the image generation unit.

Abstract: A broad-beam laser irradiation apparatus can measure the parametric or functional response of a semiconductor device to exposure to dose-rate equivalent infrared laser light. Comparisons of dose-rate response from before, during, and after accelerated aging of a device, or from periodic sampling of devices from fielded operational systems can determine if aging has affected the device's overall functionality. The dependence of these changes on equivalent dose-rate pulse intensity and/or duration can be measured with the apparatus. The synchronized introduction of external electrical transients into the device under test can be used to simulate the electrical effects of the surrounding circuitry's response to a radiation exposure while exposing the device to dose-rate equivalent infrared laser light.

Abstract: A beam detector includes a beam detection sensor to receive a light beam emitted from a light source of a light scanning unit and to generate a synchronous signal, a slit member having a slit formed therein to control a time to generate the synchronous signal of the beam detection sensor by adjusting an amount of the light beam received by the beam detection sensor, and a holder in which the slit member is installed. The slit is extended in a vertical direction and, a pair of surfaces form the slit and face each other, one of the pair of surfaces at which a scanned light beam arrives first is inclined in the vertical direction.

Abstract: The invention relates to an optoelectronic input device (10) in which the input is formed by detected movements of an object (M), the device comprising an optical module (11) comprising at least one laser (1,1?) with a cavity for the generation of a measuring radiation beam (S), optical means (2) for the guidance of the radiation beam (S) to a plane (V) close to the object (M) and conversion means (C) for the conversion of measuring beam radiation reflected and modulated by the object into an electrical signal, wherein the conversion means (C) are formed by a combination of the cavity of the laser (1) and measuring means (3) for measuring a change in the cavity during operation, which radiation is caused by reflected radiation entering the cavity.

Abstract: The plural signal chains of an imaging device are calibrated in the digital domain. The pixel array of the imaging device includes a row of calibration pixels. The column circuitry, prior to reading a row of pixels, reads the row of calibration pixels in order to obtain a set of column offsets. The row of pixels is read and processed to produce a corresponding plurality of digital values. The set of column offsets are applied to the digital values to compensate for response differences among the signal chains.

Abstract: There is described an optical radiation sensor device for detecting radiation in a radiation field. The device comprises a sensor element capable of detecting and responding to incident radiation from the radiation field and a radiation window interposed between the sensor element and the radiation field. The radiation window comprises a non-circular (preferably square) shaped radiation transparent opening. The optical radiation sensor device can be used in a so-called dynamic manner while mitigating or obviating the detection errors resulting from the use of a circular-shaped attenuating aperture and/or angular (even minor) misalignment of the sensor device with respect to the array of radiation sources when multiple such circular-shaped attenuating apertures are used.

Abstract: An imager in which a column line bias current control signal is pulsed at some time during and/or after the pulsing of the reset control and the transfer control signals to increase a bias current in a pixel column line during reset and transfer operations. The bias current is then decreased by removing the pulse before the sampling and storing of reset and image signals. Pulsing the bias control voltage signal and thus, the bias current, decreases the settling time of the column line, while maintaining the required low current during sampling and storage of the reset and image signals.

Abstract: The manufacture of multi-level optical imagers and the resulting imagers are described. Multiple levels of metallization are prepared, each level having a via. The vias are aligned and a material having a higher refractive index than its surrounds is positioned within the vias to form an optical channel. The higher refractive index material may be an optical plug. A lens is mounted at one end of the optical channel and a photoconversion device is mounted at the other end.

Abstract: An image sensor package is disclosed that reduces the overall size of known image sensor packages. The image sensor package includes an image sensor and image sensor controller that are arranged on a substrate so that the surfaces of the image sensor and image sensor controller are directly adjacent one another. A package in accordance with the present invention reduces the amount of space in the package by allowing at least one surface of the image sensor controller and at least one surface of the image sensor to be directly attached or connected to one another. Electrical conductive material in the nature of anisotropic conductive materials is also preferably applied to the substrate in the form of an adhesive layer to allow for the image sensor controller and the image sensor to be in electrical communication with one another.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for providing flexible photodetector binning are provided. A photodetector having multiple pixels, such as a charged coupled device (CCD), a focal plane array (FPA), an active pixel sensor (APS), or other suitable detector, is provided. A desired bin area is produced in the array by setting at least one of the pixels of the array to a low input impedance level and remaining pixels to a high input impedance level, so that charges generated at the high input impedance pixels diffuse through the detector array to adjacent, low input impedance pixels. The charge is collected at the low input impedance pixels, and corresponds to light detected in the bin area. The impedances of the pixels can be varied to provide bins of desired shapes and/or geometries. The bin areas can extend partially over one or more pixels.

Abstract: A Pb plate and a base board loading electronic components such as a signal processing circuit and a power supply circuit are disposed on a case side so as to decrease the weight and the thickness of a sensor section. Besides, the case has a mechanical strength enough to support the active matrix substrate without deformation. Further, a small-signal amplifier control substrate and a gate driver control circuit substrate are inserted inside the case through slits and electrically connected to the electronic components loaded on the base board.

Abstract: An auto focusing mechanism is provided in a surveying instrument, such as an electronic level, that is capable of automatically focusing a telescope on a sighted staff. As a focusing lens (21b) is moved by a motor (41) along the optical axis of a telescope (20), the image of a staff (1) sighted by the telescope (20) is converted into an electrical signal by a line sensor (24). The output signal of the line sensor (24) is converted into a digital signal by an A/D converter (27) and stored in a RAM (28). Based on the data stored in the RAM (28), a microcomputer (3) monitors frequencies of the component signals, or wavelets, contained in the output signal of the line sensor (24) stored in the RAM (28). When a particular frequency of the output signal associated with the position of the focusing lens (21b) is detected a determination is made that the focusing lens (21b) is located at a focusing position, and the distance from the telescope (20) to the staff (1) is calculated.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus with a light source unit emitting a light beam optically modulated based on image/video information, a scanning unit for scanning the light beam emitted from the light source unit two-dimensionally, an optical system that guides the light beam scanned by the scanning unit to the scanned position, a control unit for controlling operations of the light source unit and the scanning unit in synchronization with each other to form the image on the scanned position, and a light beam dividing unit for dividing the light beam scanned by the scanning unit two-dimensionally into a plurality of light beams and emitting them.