Dual band (MWIR/LWIR) hyperspectral imager

The demonstration of a dual band, MWIR/LWIR hyperspectral imaging system with a single lens and single focal plane array was performed at the Army Research Laboratory in the spring of 2003. To our knowledge this is the first time that a single two color focal plane array has been used for hyperspectral imaging. The ability of the IMSS diffractive optic to image both bands (MWIR/LWIR) simultaneously has allowed this new and innovative technique to work. The diffractive lens images the first order in the longwave infrared and the second order in the midwave infrared. Since the light is dispersed along the optical axis, as opposed to perpendicular to the optical axis, both color bands are imaged in parallel. This paper reports on this work showing a demonstration of a dual band hyperspectral image.