초록

Methodology of determining refractive index and extinction coefficient of a prism shaped material, including simultaneously for a multiplicity of wavelengths using an easy to practice technique.

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1. A method of determining the refractive index of a prism shaped material, comprising the steps of: a) providing a system comprising: a1) a stage for supporting said prism shaped material,a2) a source of a beam of electromagnetic radiation: mounted directly on a rotatable support arm on a source si

1. A method of determining the refractive index of a prism shaped material, comprising the steps of: a) providing a system comprising: a1) a stage for supporting said prism shaped material,a2) a source of a beam of electromagnetic radiation: mounted directly on a rotatable support arm on a source side of said prism shaped material; ormounted other than on a rotatable support arm on a source side of said prism shaped material and also providing a beam directing beam director attached to said support arm on a source side of said prism shaped material; and positioning a detector of a beam of electromagnetic radiation: mounted directly on a separate rotatable support arm on a detector side of said prism shaped material, ormounted other than on a rotatable support arm on a detector side of said prism shaped material and also providing a beam directing beam director attached to said rotatable support arm on a detector side of said prism shaped material; each of said sample and detector side rotatable supports being rotatable about a common axis so as to enable directing a beam of electromagnetic radiation provided by said source of a beam of electromagnetic radiation, at various angles of incidence to said source side of said prism shaped material such that it enters said prism shaped material, is refracted thereby, passes through said prism shaped material and exits from said detector side of said prism shaped material at a refracted exit angle to said detector side of said prism shaped material, and then proceeds toward and enters said detector of beam of electromagnetic radiation; a3) means for adjusting each of the source side and detector sides rotatable support arms through equal angles by rotation about said common axis; anda4) a computer;b) mounting a prism shaped material to said stage, said prism shaped material having converging input and detector sides that form an apex angle “A” where they intersect;c) while causing said source of a beam of electromagnetic radiation to provide a beam of electromagnetic radiation, rotating said rotatable support arm on said source side of said prism shaped material clockwise or counterclockwise some number of degrees to direct a beam of electromagnetic radiation toward the source side of said prism shaped material at an angle of incidence to said source side thereof, and rotating said separate rotatable support arm on said detector side of said prism shaped material counterclockwise or clockwise respectively, to the same magnitude number of degrees as was the rotatable support arm to which the source is attached and monitoring the intensity of the beam entering said detector as a result;d) repeating step c) for multiplicity of additional input beam angles of incidence and monitoring the intensity of the beam entering said detector as a result for each said angle to determine the optimum angle of incidence of said electromagnetic beam with respect to said source side of said prism shaped material at which the detector indicates a maximum intensity; ande) for the optimum maximum intensity angle of incidence determined in step d), in said computer, applying the following formula: n⁢⁢2=(sin⁡((A+(180-2⁢(θ)⁢optimum⁢⁢angle))/2))sin⁢⁢(A/2)⁢n⁢⁢1 to determine n2, where n1 and n2 are the refractive indicies of the ambient environment surrounding said prism shaped material, and of said prism shaped material, respectively. 2. A method as in claim 1, wherein the source of a spectroscopic beam of electromagnetic radiation is directly attached to the said rotatable support arm on said source side of said prism shaped material, and wherein the beam diffractor and detector of electromagnetic radiation exiting said prism shaped material is directly attached to said rotatable support arm on said detector side of said prism shaped material. 3. A method as in claim 1, wherein the source of a spectroscopic beam of electromagnetic radiation provides a beam that is directed to the prism shaped material by a beam director that is attached to the said support arm on said source side of said prism shaped material, and/or wherein the beam of electromagnetic radiation exiting said prism shaped material is directed to the beam diffractor and detector by a beam director that is attached to said support arm on said detector side of said prism shaped material. 4. A method as in claim 1, wherein the step of providing said means for adjusting each of the source side and detector sides rotatable support arms through equal angles, involves providing a mechanism that adjusts each of the input and detector side rotatable support arms independently. 5. A method as in claim 1, wherein the step of providing said means for adjusting each of the source side and detector sides rotatable support arms through equal angles, involves providing a theta (θ)-theta (θ) mechanism wherein adjusting the source side rotatable support arm, automatically results in said detector side rotatable support arm being adjusted. 6. A method as in claim 1, in which the prism shaped material has an empty volume therein and into which is caused to be present a liquid, the optical constants of which are to be determined. 7. A method as in claim 1, in which the source of electromagnetic radiation is spectroscopic and wherein said method is repeated a plurality of times, for a plurality of wavelengths, to determine refractive index at each thereof. 8. A method as in claim 1, which further comprises determining the extinction coefficient of said prism shaped material, by: f) changing the position of said stage so that the electromagnetic beam passing therethrough passes through a different length of said prism shaped material, and monitoring the output of said detector of a beam of electromagnetic radiation to provide the intensity exiting said prism shaped material; andg) applying said intensity value obtained in step f, and the intensity value previously obtained in step c, and relating them to path lengths of said beam as it passes through said prism shaped material, to determine the extinction coefficient. 9. A method as in claim 1, in which the common axis about which the rotatable source side support and detector side support arms rotate is oriented substantially horizontally, or substantially vertically in lab coordinates. 10. A method as in claim 1 wherein the prism shaped material is of a known refractive index, and wherein its measured value is used to calibrate the system so that it reads accurately as well as repeatably. 11. A method as in claim 1, in which all method steps are carried out under control of a computer and/or the method includes storing at least some output provided by the detector in non-transitory machine readable media, and analyzing at least some output provided by the detector. 12. A method of simultaneously determining the refractive index of a prism shaped material for a multiplicity of wavelengths, comprising the steps of: a) providing a system comprising: a1) a stage for supporting said prism shaped material,a2) a source of a spectroscopic beam of electromagnetic radiation: mounted directly to a rotatable support arm on a source side of said prism shaped material, ormounted other than to said rotatable support arm and provides a spectroscopic beam via a beam director attached to a support arm on a source side of said prism shaped material; and a wavelength disperser and multi-element detector of different wavelengths in a beam of electromagnetic radiation mounted: mounted directly to a separate rotatable support arm on a detector side of said prism shaped material, ormounted other than to said rotatable support arm and directs a spectroscopic beam via a beam director mounted to a support arm on a detector side of said prism shaped material; said source side and detector side rotatable support arms each being rotatable about a common axis so as to enable directing a beam of electromagnetic radiation, provided by said source of a beam of electromagnetic radiation, at various angles of incidence to said source side of said prism shaped material such that it enters said prism shaped material, is refracted thereby, passes through said prism shaped material and exits from said detector side of said prism shaped material at a refracted exit angle to said detector side of said prism shaped material, and then proceeds toward said wavelength disperser where it is dispersed into separate wavelengths which enter said detector of spectroscopic beam of electromagnetic radiation;a3) means for adjusting each of the source side and detector sides rotatable support arms through equal angles by rotation about said common axis; anda4) a computer;b) mounting a prism shaped material to said stage, said prism shaped material having converging source and detector sides that form an apex angle “A” where they intersect;c) while causing said source of a beam of electromagnetic radiation to produce a spectroscopic beam of electromagnetic radiation, rotating said rotatable support arm on said source side of said prism shaped material counterclockwise or clockwise through a range of angles to direct a beam of electromagnetic radiation toward the source side of said prism shaped material at an angle of incidence to said source side thereof, and rotating said separate rotatable support arm on said detector side of said prism shaped material clockwise or counterclockwise, respectively, through the same range of angles as was the rotatable support arm to which the source is attached, and simultaneously monitoring the intensity of a multiplicity of dispersed wavelengths in said beam entering different detecting elements of said detector as a result;d) monitoring the intensity of each of said multiplicity of dispersed wavelengths in the beam entering the multiple elements of said detector as a result by so doing determining the optimum angle of incidence of each wavelength in said electromagnetic beam with respect to said source side of said prism shaped material at which the detector indicates a maximum intensity; ande) for the optimum maximum intensity angle of incidence determined in step d), in said computer, applying the following formula: n⁢⁢2=(sin⁡((A+(180-2⁢(θ)⁢optimum⁢⁢angle))/2))sin⁢⁢(A/2)⁢n⁢⁢1 to determine n2, where n1 and n2 are the refractive indicies of the ambient environment surrounding said prism shaped material, and of said prism shaped material, respectively; where n2 is wavelength dependent. 13. A method as in claim 12, wherein the source of a spectroscopic beam of electromagnetic radiation is directly attached to the said rotatable support arm on said source side of said prism shaped material, and wherein the beam diffractor and detector of electromagnetic radiation exiting said prism shaped material is directly attached to said rotatable support arm on said detector side of said prism shaped material. 14. A method as in claim 12, wherein the source of a spectroscopic beam of electromagnetic radiation provides a beam that is directed to the prism shaped material by a beam director that is attached to the said support arm on said source side of said prism shaped material, and/or wherein the beam of electromagnetic radiation exiting said prism shaped material is directed to the beam diffractor and detector by a beam director that is attached to said support arm on said detector side of said prism shaped material. 15. A method as in claim 12, wherein the step of providing said means for adjusting each of the source side and detector sides support arms through equal angles, involves providing a mechanism that adjusts each of the input and detector side rotatable support arms independently. 16. A method as in claim 12, wherein the step of providing said means for adjusting each of the source side and detector sides rotatable support arms through equal angles, involves providing a theta (θ)-theta (θ) mechanism wherein adjusting the source side rotatable support arm, automatically results in said detector side rotatable support arm being adjusted. 17. A method as in claim 12, in which the prism shaped material has an empty volume therein and into which is caused to be present a liquid, the optical constants of which are to be determined. 18. A method as in claim 12, which further comprises determining the extinction coefficient of said prism shaped material, by: f) changing the position of said stage so that the electromagnetic beam passing therethrough passes through a different length of said prism shaped material, and monitoring the output of said detector of a beam of electromagnetic radiation to provide the intensity exiting said prism shaped material; andg) applying said intensity value obtained in step f, and the intensity value previously obtained in step c, and relating them to path lengths of said beam as it passes through said prism shaped material, to determine the extinction coefficient. 19. A method as in claim 12, in which the common axis about which the rotatable source side support and detector side support arms rotate is oriented substantially horizontally, or substantially vertically in lab coordinates. 20. A method as in claim 12 wherein the prism shaped material is of a known refractive index, and wherein its measured value is used to calibrate the system so that it reads accurately as well as repeatable. 21. A method as in claim 12, in which all method steps are carried out under control of a computer and/or the method includes storing at least some output provided by the detector in non-transitory machine readable media, and analyzing at least some output provided by the detector.