The Quantum Ferroelectric Hyperspectral Imager

Abstract

This paper describes the Quantum Ferroelectric Hyperspectral Imager, an uncooled Hyperspectral Imaging System that is capable of Sub-BLIP remote passive imaging over a spectral range of 0.5 /spl mu/m to 50 /spl mu/m with a single uncooled sensor (KRS-5 window). The advantage of this technology is that the Quantum Ferroelectric (QFE) detector has target gain. For every incident photon, there are a number of photoelectrons released into the device. This has important consequences in achieving high signal to noise ratio. The passive multi-spectral thermal IR sensor described here utilizes a single, wide-range sensor that acquires at video rates any gas absorption band that occurs within a narrow-band wavelength region, nearly simultaneously with broad-band thermal IR and visible images of the scene. Therefore, images of target gas species and can be overlaid with thermal IR or visible images, collected almost simultaneously with one another.