Standoff hyperspectral-imaging sensor for chemical and biological early warning using lenslet arrays

This proposal is for a new innovative technology using diffractive optics configured in an array and placed in close proximity to the focal plane array enabling a miniature hyper-spectral LWIR imaging system. Using the right spectral region for detection and analysis of the spectral properties of chemical and biological warfare agents can support efforts to rapidly identify these threats in the battle field. The proposed approach uses diffractive optical elements arrange in an array allowing the collection of multi-color images simultaneously each frame of the multi-spectral/hyper-spectral camera and the entire hyper-spectral data cubes is collected in less than a second. This sensor is applicable to be used by either a dismount, ground based vehicle or airborne platform. Phase I will focus on the conceptual design for a hyper-spectral imaging sensor using lenslets arrays.