Optical Design of Image Polychromator for Spatially Resolved Imaging Spectroscopy

We have developed a basic approach and a design for snapshot recording of multispectral information, based on a dispersive polychromator with mirror objectives. By means of numerical modeling, we have shown that the halfwidth of the blur spots for 11 spectral bands in the 400–700 nm range, for imaging points at the center and on the periphery of the object field, is not greater than 15 μm for a focal length of the camera mirror equal to 100 mm. Owing to the use of simple optical elements, the design can serve as the basis for making inexpensive devices for a wide range of spatially resolved imaging spectroscopy applications.