Reconfigurable liquid crystal dispersing element for a Computed Tomography Imaging Spectrometer

摘要

A Computed Tomography Imaging Spectrometer (CTIS) is an imaging spectrometer which can acquire a multi-spectral data set in a single snapshot (one focal plane array integration time) with no moving parts. Currently, CTIS instruments use a specially designed computer generated hologram (CGH) to disperse the light from a given spectral band into a grid of diffraction orders. The capabilities of the CTIS instrument can be greatly improved by replacing the static CGH dispersing element with a reconfigurable liquid crystal spatial light modulator. The liquid crystal spatial light modulator is tuned electronically, enabling the CTIS to remain a non-scanning imaging spectrometer with no moving parts. The ability to rapidly reconfigure the dispersing element of the CTIS allows the spectral and spatial resolution to change by varying the number of diffraction orders, diffraction efficiency, etc. In this work, we present the initial results of using a fully addressable, 2-D liquid crystal spatial light modulator as the dispersing element in a CTIS instrument.