초록 ▼

An electro-optical aerosol characterizing system includes a continuous wave laser for generating two beams in the red wavelength range, intersecting a particle stream at slightly spaced apart locations. A pulsed UV laser generates a beam that intersects the particle stream at a third location downst

An electro-optical aerosol characterizing system includes a continuous wave laser for generating two beams in the red wavelength range, intersecting a particle stream at slightly spaced apart locations. A pulsed UV laser generates a beam that intersects the particle stream at a third location downstream. Laser energy scattered by each particle as it passes the first two locations, is used to compute aerodynamic sizes and UV laser pulsing times, so that in each case the UV beam irradiates the particle at the downstream location. Particles containing biological materials or other fluorescing components emit fluorescence signals in response to the irradiation. Accordingly, the system provides information about particle composition as well as particle size.

대표청구항 ▼

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A process for characterizing particles in aerosols, including:causing an aerosol to move along a predetermined path as a stream of successive particles detectable individually at least at first and second different locations along the path;accelerating the aerosol along a

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A process for characterizing particles in aerosols, including:causing an aerosol to move along a predetermined path as a stream of successive particles detectable individually at least at first and second different locations along the path;accelerating the aerosol along a predetermined segment of the path that includes the first and second locations;measuring respective transit times for the particles, with the transit time in each case indicating the time for the respective particle to travel from the first location to the second location;intermittently causing excitation energy to intersect the path at a third location downstream of the first and second locations, to individually irradiate each of the particles with the excitation energy, wherein the excitation energy has a frequency within a range selected to trigger a responsive emission by a predetermined constituent; andresponsive to each episode of said irradiating, sensing for the presence of a responsive emission from the particle to facilitate determining whether that particle contains the predetermined constituent.