Stray Light Characterization Of An Ingaas Anamorphic Hyperspectral Imager

Compact hyperspectral sensors potentially have a wide range of applications, including machine vision, quality control, and surveillance from small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). With the development of Indium Gallium Arsenide (InGaAs) focal plane arrays, much of the Short Wave Infra-Red (SWIR) spectral regime can be accessed with a small hyperspectral imaging system, thereby substantially expanding hyperspectral sensing capabilities. To fully realize this potential, system performance must be well-understood. Here, stray light characterization of a recently-developed push-broom hyperspectral sensor sensitive in the 1 mu m -1.7 mu m spectral regime is described. The sensor utilizes anamorphic fore-optics that partially decouple image formation along the spatial and spectral axes of the instrument. This design benefits from a reduction in complexity over standard high-performance spectrometer optical designs while maintaining excellent aberration control and spatial and spectral distortion characteristics. The stray light performance characteristics of the anamorphic imaging spectrometer were measured using the spectral irradiance and radiance responsivity calibrations using uniform sources (SIRCUS) facility at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). A description of the measurements and results are presented. Additionally, a stray-light matrix was assembled for the instrument to improve the instrument's spectral accuracy. Transmittance of a silicon wafer was measured to validate this approach. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America