Microdensitometer

A microdensitometer is an optical instrument used to measure

optical densities in the microscopic domain.[1][2][3] A well-known
microdensitometer, used in the photographic industry, is a
granularity instrument or granularity machine.[2] The granularity
measurement[2] involves the use of an optical aperture, 10-50
micrometers in diameter, and in the recording of thousands of
optical density readings. The standard deviation of this series of
measurements is known as the granularity[2][3] of the measured
transmission surface, optical film, or photographic film, in particular
.

An alternative version to the traditional point-by-point

microdensitometer is the beam expanded laser
microdensitometer. [3][4] This instrument can illuminate
simultaneously an area a few centimeters wide with an ultra thin
height, in the micrometer regime.[4] Advantages include increased Microdensitometer
depth of focus, significant increases in data collection speed, and
superior signal to noise ratios.[3][4] In microscopy applications, this
type of ultra thin beam-expanded illumination can also be known as light sheet illumination or selective
plane illumination.

This measurement technique, using ultra-thin expanded laser beams, is particularly useful to detect
microscopic imperfections in optical coatings or transmission optical surfaces.[5]

See also
Densitometer
Microscopy
N-slit interferometer
Particle size

References
1. J. C. Dainty and R. Shaw, Image Science (Academic, New york, 1974).
2. T. H. James, The Theory of the Photographic Process (Eastman Kodak, Rochester, 1977).
3. F. J. Duarte, Tunable Laser Optics (Elsevier Academic, New York, 2003) Chapter 10.
4. F. J. Duarte, Electro-optical interferometric microdensitometer system, US Patent 5255069
(1993).
5. F. J. Duarte, Tunable Laser Applications (CRC, New York, 2009) Chapter 12.

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