Design of MWIR hyperspectral imagers based on acousto-optic tunable filters

Abstract

Thermal infrared hyperspectral imagers have significant application values in the field of space optics. However, it is very difficult to obtain the spectral data cube and temperature field information of fast moving targets in a short time. An acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) has many advantages, such as fast tuning speed, light weight and no moving parts. It can obtain thermal infrared hyperspectral images of a fast-moving target in a very short integration time. In this paper, a collimating optical system is obtained by splicing optical path a telescope and a secondary imaging mirror. A middle wavelength infrared (MWIR) AOTF is introduced into the collimating optical system to modulate the spectrum and obtain thermal infrared hyperspectral images. The system with a focal length of 18 mm, a relative aperture of 1/2, a field of view (FOV) of 8°, a spectral resolution of 30.08 nm at 4 µm and a 100% cold diaphragm efficiency achieving is taken as a design example. The design results show that the modulation transfer function (MTF) of the system is greater than 0.6 at the Nyquist space frequency of 17 lp/mm, and the imaging quality is close to the diffraction limit. Finally, we develop a prototype of MWIR hyperspectral imager based on AOTFs and do experiments to prove its feasibility.