Development of a compact imaging spectrometer form for the solar reflective spectral region.

Current imaging spectrometer forms for terrestrial remote sensing in the visible, near-, and shortwave infrared (VNR/SWIR) spectral range have been implemented in hardware and achieve a high level of performance in terms of both aberration control and signal-to-noise level. These forms are compact, relative to prior art, but more size, weight, and power optimization, while maintaining performance, is desirable for usage on small satellite platforms. Pursuant to that goal, we have developed a compact breadboard prototype VNIR/SWIR imaging spectrometer that maintains the current aberration control and has a large number of spatial samples.

Substrate-integrated hollow waveguides: a new level of integration in mid-infrared gas sensing.

A new generation of hollow waveguide (HWG) gas cells of unprecedented compact dimensions facilitating low sample volumes suitable for broad- and narrow-band mid-infrared (MIR; 2.5-20 μm) sensing applications is reported: the substrate-integrated hollow waveguide (iHWG). iHWGs are layered structures providing light guiding channels integrated into a solid-state substrate material, which are competitive if not superior in performance to conventional leaky-mode fiber optic silica HWGs having similar optical pathlengths.