A snapshot multi-spectral imaging technique is described which employs multiple cascaded birefringent interferometers to simultaneously spectrally filter and demultiplex multiple spectral images onto a single detector array. Spectral images are recorded directly without the need for inversion and without rejection of light and so the technique offers the potential for high signal-to-noise ratio. An example of an eight-band multi-spectral movie sequence is presented; we believe this is the first such demonstration of a technique able to record multi-spectral movie sequences without the need for computer reconstruction.
Fourier-transform imaging spectrometers offer important advantages over other spectral imaging modalities, such as, a wider free spectral range, higher spectral resolutions and, in low-photon-flux conditions, higher signal-to-noise ratios can be achieved. Unfortunately, for application in harsh environments, deployment of Fourier-transform instruments based on traditional moving-mirror interferometers is problematic due to their inherent sensitivity to vibration. We describe a new Fourier-transform imaging spectrometer, based on a scanning birefringent interferometer. This system retains the advantages of traditional Fourier transform instruments, but is inherently compact and insensitive to vibration. Furthermore, the precision requirements of the movement can be relaxed by typically two orders of magnitude in comparison to a traditional two-beam interferometer. The instrument promises to enable application of Fourier-transform imaging spectrometry to applications, such as airborne reconnaissance and industrial inspection, for the first time. Example spectral images are presented.
We address the two dominant dilemmas encountered in attempting to demonstrate real-time hyperspectral imaging: how to record a three-dimensional spectral data cube with a conventional two-dimensional detector array and how to most efficiently transmit the spectral data cube through the information bottleneck constituted by the detector's limited space-bandwidth product. We have demonstrated a new, biologically inspired approach in which a compact hyperspectral fovea is embedded within a conventional panchromatic periphery. Combined with an intelligent scanning system this will enable hyperspectral imaging to be applied only to small regions of interest previously identified using the panchromatic periphery, thus improving the efficiency with which hyperspectral imaging can be used to recognize objects in a scene. The hyperspectral fovea is realized using a coherent optical fibre bundle that reformats a two-dimensional input image into a linear output image that acts as the input to a one-dimensional, dispersive hyperspectral imager.
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