Dark background material for image analysis that resists cleaning and vibration

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hgetnet
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Hello Physics Forums goers:

Ok, I have a project that deals with image analysis. The idea is to make the process very easy upon myself and make the background on which I will place objects as dark as possible.

1st idea I have is that of a surface that will polarize light when light reflects from it. I googled for such a surface and I couldn't find any.

2nd idea is to have a surface that deflects or reflects away a polarized light.

3rd idea is to have a non-reflective surface that absorbs most (if not all) light that falls upon it. Again, I couldn't find any such material for sell.

ANYONE KNOW WHERE I CAN BUY ANY ONE OF THESE SURFACES?

Thanks in advance.

p.s. 1- the material can not be velvet or anything that can not be wiped with a piece of damp cloth.
2- the material should withstand a medium vibration (a bit above cellphone vibration) for 10 minutes at a time.
 
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hgetnet said:
Hello Physics Forums goers:

Ok, I have a project that deals with image analysis. The idea is to make the process very easy upon myself and make the background on which I will place objects as dark as possible.

1st idea I have is that of a surface that will polarize light when light reflects from it. I googled for such a surface and I couldn't find any.

2nd idea is to have a surface that deflects or reflects away a polarized light.

3rd idea is to have a non-reflective surface that absorbs most (if not all) light that falls upon it. Again, I couldn't find any such material for sell.

ANYONE KNOW WHERE I CAN BUY ANY ONE OF THESE SURFACES?

Thanks in advance.

p.s. the material can not be velvet or anything that can not be wiped with a piece of damp cloth.

For the first example, can you just use a mirror behind a polarizing sheet? Whatever light gets reflected off of that would seem like it would be polarized...
 
berkeman said:
For the first example, can you just use a mirror behind a polarizing sheet? Whatever light gets reflected off of that would seem like it would be polarized...

I thought about that but the mirror would not be able to stand the vibration that I am going to subject the surface to. I should have stated that in my request, but I appreciate the fast response.
 
hgetnet said:
I thought about that but the mirror would not be able to stand the vibration that I am going to subject the surface to. I should have stated that in my request, but I appreciate the fast response.

Ah. But you can get some pretty strong first-surface mirrors (FSMs). What dimensions are you thinking of for the reflective sheet? What vibration accelerations are you anticipating?
 
berkeman said:
Ah. But you can get some pretty strong first-surface mirrors (FSMs). What dimensions are you thinking of for the reflective sheet? What vibration accelerations are you anticipating?

FSMs sound like something I need to research more! Thanks!

For the reflective sheet, I am thinking 11" X 11 ". Anything slightly above or below will do as well.

For the vibration, I am thinking of something like the magnitude of a vibrating cellphone (please excuse my limited knowledge in mechanical engineering). Or if it makes sense, I am thinking of a vibration that is capable of separating a number of small pebbles (m&m's or any similar shaped objects) clamping on top of each other so that it is easy to optically analyze them.