On-Chip hyperspetral imaging system for portable IR spectroscopy Applications

Hyperspectral middlewave infrared and longwave infrared (MWIR/LWIR) imaging systems capable of obtaining hundreds of narrow band (10-15 nm) spectral information of Earth's surface, the atmosphere, and land use in agriculture are of great importance in NASA's Earth remote sensing missions. Existing hyperspectral MWIR/LWIR imaging systems are bulky and heavy and thus not suitable for portable and small satellite applications. This SBIR project aims to develop an on-chip hyerspectral imaging system with integrated narrow-band (15 nm) hyperspectral filers on the pixels of the MWIR/LWIR image array. Successfully developing the proposed innovation will provide an enabling ultra-compact on-chip hyperspectral imaging technology with significantly reduced size, weight, and power consumption suitable for NASA's portable and small satellite earth remote sensing missions. In phase I, the proposed on-chip hyperspctral imaging system will be evaluated and compared with existing technologies. A preliminary MWIR/LWIR photodetector with the integrated plasmonic narrow-band filter will be fabricated and characterized. In Phase II, a prototype of the miniature on-chip mega pixel (1024x1024) MWIR/LWIR hyperspectral imaging system will be developed for laboratory demonstration.