PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE | May 21, 2014
Proc. SPIE. 9101, Next-Generation Spectroscopic Technologies VII
KEYWORDS: Hyperspectral imaging, Optical filters, Cameras, Sensors, Imaging spectroscopy, Image sensors, Image filtering, Spectral resolution, Digital micromirror devices, Prototyping
Rapidly programmable spatial light modulation devices based on MEMS technology have opened an exciting new arena
in spectral imaging: rapidly reprogrammable, high spectral resolution, multi-band spectral filters that enable
hyperspectral processing directly in the optical hardware of an imaging sensor. Implemented as a multiplexing spectral
selector, a digital micro-mirror device (DMD) can independently choose or reject dozens or hundreds of spectral bands
and present them simultaneously to an imaging sensor, forming a complete 2D image. The result is a high-speed, highresolution,
programmable spectral filter that gives the user complete control over the spectral content of the image
formed at the sensor. This technology enables a wide variety of rapidly reprogrammable operational capabilities within
the same sensor including broadband, color, false color, multispectral, hyperspectral and target specific, matched filter
imaging. Of particular interest is the ability to implement target-specific hyperspectral matched filters directly into the
optical train of the sensor, producing an image highlighting a target within a spectrally cluttered scene in real time
without further processing. By performing the hyperspectral image processing at the sensor, such a system can operate
with high performance, greatly reduced data volume, and at a fraction of the cost of traditional push broom hyperspectral
instruments. Examples of color, false color and target-specific matched-filter images recorded with our visible-spectrum
prototype will be displayed, and extensions to other spectral regions will be discussed.
