Imaging Spectropolarimeter Research Articles

Four-quadrant retarder array imaging spectropolarimeter for the full Stokes vector spectrum.

Aiming at the major demand for polarization information gap in earth observation and space exploration, we proposed a four-quadrant retarder array imaging spectropolarimeter (FQRAISP) in view of the existing technical problem of the spectral resolution degradation along with spectral aliasing crosstalk. The optical schematic diagram of the FQRAISP together with its interference model was conceptually described, and the effectiveness of the scheme was validated through the experimental simulation, which demonstrated the competitive efficiency and accuracy in the proposed FQRAISP. The FQRAISP could restore the incident Stokes vector spectrum without any errors, and the inversion accuracy was increased by seven times, avoiding the spectrum aliasing and channel filtering in the channel modulation. In order to evaluate the influences of the alignment deviation of four-partition phase retarder component, together with its thickness deviation on the reconstructed Stokes parameters, the numerical simulations were carried out, and the results showed that the alignment deviations had a relatively weak effect on the reconstructed Stokes spectra, while the thickness deviations had an obvious influence. Therefore, the alignment deviations controlled in a range of [-0.43∘,+0.43∘] and [-0.22∘, + 0.22∘] together with the thickness deviations in a range of [ - 0.03µm, + 0.03µm] were an optimal choice for the engineering implementation of the FQRAISP. This research provided a novel method for the hardware realization of the accurate acquisition of all-optical information, having broad application prospects in remote sensing (deep space exploration), biomedicine and other fields.

Inferring Line-of-sight Velocities and Doppler Widths from Stokes Profiles of GST/NIRIS Using Stacked Deep Neural Networks

Obtaining high-quality magnetic and velocity fields through Stokes inversion is crucial in solar physics. In this paper, we present a new deep learning method, named Stacked Deep Neural Networks (SDNN), for inferring line-of-sight (LOS) velocities and Doppler widths from Stokes profiles collected by the Near InfraRed Imaging Spectropolarimeter (NIRIS) on the 1.6 m Goode Solar Telescope (GST) at the Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO). The training data for SDNN are prepared by a Milne–Eddington (ME) inversion code used by BBSO. We quantitatively assess SDNN, comparing its inversion results with those obtained by the ME inversion code and related machine-learning (ML) algorithms such as multiple support vector regression, multilayer perceptrons, and a pixel-level convolutional neural network. Major findings from our experimental study are summarized as follows. First, the SDNN-inferred LOS velocities are highly correlated to the ME-calculated ones with the Pearson product–moment correlation coefficient being close to 0.9 on average. Second, SDNN is faster, while producing smoother and cleaner LOS velocity and Doppler width maps, than the ME inversion code. Third, the maps produced by SDNN are closer to ME’s maps than those from the related ML algorithms, demonstrating that the learning capability of SDNN is better than those of the ML algorithms. Finally, a comparison between the inversion results of ME and SDNN based on GST/NIRIS and those from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory in flare-prolific active region NOAA 12673 is presented. We also discuss extensions of SDNN for inferring vector magnetic fields with empirical evaluation.

Fan-shaped jet close to a light bridge

Aims. On the Sun, jets in light bridges (LBs) are frequently observed with high-resolution instruments. The respective roles played by convection and the magnetic field in triggering such jets are not yet clear. Methods. We report a small fan-shaped jet along a LB observed by the 1.6m Goode Solar Telescope (GST) with the TiO Broadband Filter Imager (BFI), the Visible Imaging Spectrometer (VIS) in Hα, and the Near-InfraRed Imaging Spectropolarimeter (NIRIS), along with the Stokes parameters. The high spatial and temporal resolution of those instruments allowed us to analyze the features identified during the jet event. By constructing the Hα Dopplergrams, we found that the plasma is first moving upward, whereas during the second phase of the jet, the plasma is flowing back. Working with time slice diagrams, we investigated the propagation-projected speed of the fan and its bright base. Results. The fan-shaped jet developed within a few minutes, with diverging beams. At its base, a bright point was slipping along the LB and ultimately invaded the umbra of the sunspot. The Hα profiles of the bright points enhanced the intensity in the wings, similarly to the case of Ellerman bombs. Co-temporally, the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) brightenings developed at the front of the dark material jet and moved at the same speed as the fan, leading us to propose that the fan-shaped jet material compressed and heated the ambient plasma at its extremities in the corona. Conclusions. Our multi-wavelength analysis indicates that the fan-shaped jet could result from magnetic reconnection across the highly diverging field low in the chromosphere, leading to an apparent slipping motion of the jet material along the LB. However, we did not find any opposite magnetic polarity at the jet base, as would typically be expected in such a configuration. We therefore discuss other plausible physical mechanisms, based on waves and convection, that may have triggered the event.

Dark Off-limb Gap: Manifestation of a Temperature Minimum and the Dynamic Nature of the Chromosphere

We study off-limb emission of the lower solar atmosphere using high-resolution imaging spectroscopy in the Hβ and Ca ii 8542 Å lines obtained with the CHROMospheric Imaging Spectrometer (CHROMIS) and the CRisp Imaging SpectroPolarimeter (CRISP) on the Swedish 1 m Solar Telescope. The Hβ line-wing images show the dark intensity gap between the photospheric limb and chromosphere, which is absent in the Ca ii images. We calculate synthetic spectra of the off-limb emissions with the RH code in one-dimensional spherical geometry and find good agreement with the observations. The analysis of synthetic line profiles shows that the gap in the Hβ line-wing images maps the temperature minimum region between the photosphere and chromosphere due to the well-known opacity and emissivity gap of Balmer lines in this layer. However, the observed gap is detected farther from the line core in the outer line-wing positions than in the synthetic profiles. We found that an increased microturbulence in the model chromosphere is needed to reproduce the dark gap in the outer line wing, suggesting that the observed Hβ gap is the manifestation of the temperature minimum and the dynamic nature of the solar chromosphere. The temperature minimum produces a small enhancement in synthetic Ca ii line-wing intensities. Observed off-limb Ca ii line-wing emissions show similar enhancement below the temperature minimum layer near the edge of the photospheric limb.

Design and simulation analysis of the AOTF full-Stokes imaging spectropolarimeter.

In order to effectively improve the contrast of target identification, an acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) full-Stokes imaging spectropolarimeter is proposed, which can measure synchronously polarization information with each spectral band in real time. The full-Stokes vectors are obtained by the division-of-aperture polarization imaging system. The spectral bands are selected by RF of the AOTF electrically. Based on this system, a polarization error model is established, and the influence of the key polarization element angle error is analyzed. The results show that the measurement error increases with the increase of the polarization degree. When P=1, the influence of the azimuth angle error is greater than the retardance error under the same angle error. The results are helpful to find the variation law of the polarization error and provide a theoretical reference for the design of new types of full-Stokes imaging spectropolarimeters.

Laboratory Calibration of an Ultraviolet–Visible Imaging Spectropolarimeter

The ultraviolet–visible imaging spectropolarimeter (UVISP), developed by the Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (AIOFM), Chinese Academy of Science (CAS), is a dual-beam snapshot instrument for measuring the spectral, radiometric, and linear polarization information of absorbing aerosol in a wavelength range from 340 to 520 nm. In this paper, we propose a complete set of calibration methods for UVISP to ensure the accuracy of the measured radiation polarization data, thus guaranteeing the reliability of inversion results. In geometric calibration, we complete the assignment of the field of view (FOV) angle to each pixel of the detector using a high precision turntable and parallel light source. In addition, the geometric calibration accuracy of the S beam and P beam is also analyzed. The results show that the residuals of all row pixels are less than 0.12°. Based on geometric calibration, a spectral calibration is conducted at each spectrum of the S beam and P beam for the given FOV, and the relation between the wavelength and pixel is obtained by a linear fitting procedure. For radiometric calibration, the uniformity of spectral responsivity is corrected, and the function between spectral radiance and output digital data is established. To improve the accuracy of the polarimetric measurement, a polarimetric calibration is proposed, and validated experimental results show that the root mean square (RMS) errors for the demodulated value are all within 0.011 for the input linear polarized light with different angles of linear polarization (AoLPs). Finally, field measurements are conducted, and the absolute deviations are all within 0.01 when the UVISP and CE-318 sun–sky polarimetric radiometer (CE318N) simultaneously measure the degree of linear polarization (DoLP) of the sky at different zenith angles. These experimental results demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed calibration methods.

Properties of ubiquitous magnetic reconnection events in the lower solar atmosphere

Context.Magnetic reconnection in the deep solar atmosphere can give rise to enhanced emission in the Balmer hydrogen lines, a phenomenon referred to as Ellerman bombs. Recent high-quality Hβobservations indicate that Ellerman bombs are more common than previously thought, and it was estimated that at any time, about half a million Ellerman bombs are present in the quiet Sun.Aims.We performed an extensive statistical characterization of the quiet-Sun Ellerman bombs (QSEBs) in these new Hβobservations.Methods.We analyzed a 1 h dataset of the quiet Sun observed with the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope that consists of spectral imaging in the Hβand Hαlines as well as spectropolarimetric imaging in Fe I6173 Å. We used thek-means clustering and the 3D connected component labeling techniques to automatically detect QSEBs.Results.We detected a total of 2809 QSEBs. The lifetimes vary between 9 s and 20.5 min, with a median of 1.14 min. The maximum area ranges between 0.0016 and 0.2603 Mm2, with a median of 0.018 Mm2. The maximum brightness in the Hβwing varies between 1.06 and 2.76 with respect to the average wing intensity. A subset (14%) of the QSEBs displays enhancement of the Hβline core. On average, the line core brightening appears 0.88 min after the onset of brightening in the wings, and the distance between these brightenings is 243 km. This gives rise to an apparent propagation speed ranging between −14.3 and +23.5 km s−1, with an average that is upward propagating at +4.4 km s−1. The average orientation is nearly parallel to the limbward direction. QSEBs are nearly uniformly distributed over the field of view, but we find empty areas with the size of mesogranulation. QSEBs are located more frequently near the magnetic network, where they are often larger, live longer, and are brighter.Conclusions.We conclude that QSEBs are ubiquitous in the quiet Sun and appear everywhere, except in areas of mesogranular size with the weakest magnetic fields (BLOS ≲ 50 G). Our observations support the interpretation of reconnection along vertically extended current sheets.

Detection of spicules termed rapid blueshifted excursions as seen in the chromosphere via H α and the transition region via Si iv 1394 Å line emission

ABSTRACT We show signatures of spicules termed rapid blueshifted excursions (RBEs) in the Si iv 1394 Å emission line using a semi-automated detection approach. We use the H α filtergrams obtained by the CRISP imaging spectropolarimeter on the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope and co-aligned Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph data using the SJI 1400 Å channel to study the spatiotemporal signature of the RBEs in the transition region. The detection of RBEs is carried out using an oriented coronal loop tracing algorithm on H α Dopplergrams at ±35 km s−1. We find that the number of detected features is significantly impacted by the time-varying contrast values of the detection images, which are caused by the changes in the atmospheric seeing conditions. We detect 407 events with lifetime greater than 32 s. This number is further reduced to 168 RBEs based on the H α profile and the proximity of RBEs to the large-scale flow. Of these 168 RBEs, 89 of them display a clear spatiotemporal signature in the SJI 1400 Å channel, indicating that a total of $\sim 53{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ are observed to have co-spatial signatures between the chromosphere and the transition region.

Quantifying Properties of Photospheric Magnetic Cancellations in the Quiet Sun Internetwork

We analyzed spectropolarimetric data from the Swedish 1 m Solar Telescope to investigate the physical properties of small-scale magnetic cancellations in the quiet Sun photosphere. Specifically, we looked at the full Stokes polarization profiles along the Fe i 557.6 nm and of the Fe i 630.1 nm lines measured by the CRisp Imaging SpectroPolarimeter to study the temporal evolution of the line-of-sight magnetic field during 42.5 minutes of quiet Sun evolution. From this magnetogram sequence, we visually identified 38 cancellation events. We then used the Yet Another Feature Tracking Algorithm to characterize the physical properties of these magnetic cancellations. We found on average 1.6 × 1016 Mx of magnetic flux canceled in each event with an average cancellation rate of 3.8 × 1014 Mx s−1. The derived canceled flux is associated with strong downflows, with an average speed of V LOS ≈ 1.1 km s−1. Our results show that the average lifetime of each event is 9.2 minutes with an average of 44.8% of initial magnetic flux being canceled. Our estimates of magnetic fluxes provide a lower limit since studied magnetic cancellation events have magnetic field values that are very close to the instrument noise level. We observed no horizontal magnetic fields at the cancellation sites and therefore cannot conclude whether the events are associated with structures that could cause magnetic reconnection.

IBIS-A: The IBIS data Archive

Context. The IBIS data Archive (IBIS-A) stores data acquired with the Interferometric BIdimensional Spectropolarimeter (IBIS), which was operated at the Dunn Solar Telescope of the US National Solar Observatory from June 2003 to June 2019. The instrument provided series of high-resolution narrowband spectropolarimetric imaging observations of the photosphere and chromosphere in the range 5800–8600 Å and co-temporal broadband observations in the same spectral range and with the same field of view as for the polarimetric data. Aims. We present the data currently stored in IBIS-A, as well as the interface utilized to explore such data and facilitate its scientific exploitation. To this end, we also describe the use of IBIS-A data in recent and undergoing studies relevant to solar physics and space weather research. Methods. IBIS-A includes raw and calibrated observations, as well as science-ready data. The latter comprise maps of the circular, linear, and net circular polarization, and of the magnetic and velocity fields derived for a significant fraction of the series available in the archive. IBIS-A furthermore contains links to observations complementary to the IBIS data, such as co-temporal high-resolution observations of the solar atmosphere available from the instruments onboard the Hinode and IRIS satellites, and full-disk multi-band images from INAF solar telescopes. Results. IBIS-A currently consists of 30 TB of data taken with IBIS during 28 observing campaigns performed in 2008 and from 2012 to 2019 on 159 days. Of the observations, 29% are released as Level 1 data calibrated for instrumental response and compensated for residual seeing degradation, while 10% of the calibrated data are also available as Level 1.5 format as multi-dimensional arrays of circular, linear, and net circular polarization maps, and line-of-sight velocity patterns; 81% of the photospheric calibrated series present Level 2 data with the view of the magnetic and velocity fields of the targets, as derived from data inversion with the Very Fast Inversion of the Stokes Vector code. Metadata and movies of each calibrated and science-ready series are also available to help users evaluate observing conditions. Conclusions. IBIS-A represents a unique resource for investigating the plasma processes in the solar atmosphere and the solar origin of space weather events. The archive currently contains 454 different series of observations. A recently undertaken effort to preserve IBIS observations is expected to lead in the future to an increase in the raw measurements and the fraction of processed data available in IBIS-A.

Pixelated polarizers array based coded aperture snapshot spectropolarimetric imaging with side information

Imaging spectropolarimetry is a promising technology in the fields such as biomedicine, planetary exploration, remote sensing, and so on. In this paper, a coded aperture snapshot spectropolarimetric imagery is developed by incorporating a pixelated polarizers array (PPA) into the coded aperture snapshot spectral imagery (CASSI). Aside from spatial coding in CASSI, polarization encoding is introduced in the proposed system by the PPA. As side information, an RGB image captured by a color camera is used to improve the reconstruction performance. The imaging model and reconstruction algorithm have been presented. An experiment has been carried out to validate the system’s feasibility. The significant advantages of the system are snapshot imaging, no scanning, and suitable for dynamic and static target detection. It gives us an alternative method for acquiring the spatial, spectral, and complete linear polarization information of the targets with a snapshot measurement.

Coded aperture full-stokes imaging spectropolarimeter

A coded aperture full-Stokes imaging spectropolarimeter (CAFIS) based on a combination of coded aperture spectral imager and polarization spectrum modulation is demonstrated. The CAFIS uses a rotatable retarder and a rotatable polarizer as polarization spectrum modulation components to modulate the polarization information on the spectrum first, then the CAFIS achieves aperture coding with a digital micromirror device (DMD). After passing through a dispersive element, the coded polarization modulated spectral images are recorded by a CCD camera. The polarization modulated spectral images with the camera’s intrinsic spatial resolution are estimated with sparsity-constrained optimization from the acquired images, and the full-Stokes spectral images are computed by the demodulation algorithm. The principle and feasibility are verified via simulations. The relationship between the configuration of polarization spectrum modulation components and the reconstruction quality is investigated in this paper as well.

Multi-passband Observations of a Solar Flare over the He i 10830 Å line

Abstract This study presents a C3.0 flare observed by the Big Bear Solar Observatory/Goode Solar Telescope (GST) and Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) on 2018 May 28 around 17:10 UT. The Near-Infrared Imaging Spectropolarimeter of GST was set to spectral imaging mode to scan five spectral positions at ±0.8, ±0.4 Å and line center of He i 10830 Å. At the flare ribbon’s leading edge, the line is observed to undergo enhanced absorption, while the rest of the ribbon is observed to be in emission. When in emission, the contrast compared to the preflare ranges from about 30% to nearly 100% at different spectral positions. Two types of spectra, “convex” shape with higher intensity at line core and “concave” shape with higher emission in the line wings, are found at the trailing and peak flaring areas, respectively. On the ribbon front, negative contrasts, or enhanced absorption, of about ∼10%–20% appear in all five wavelengths. This observation strongly suggests that the negative flares observed in He i 10830 Å with mono-filtergram previously were not caused by pure Doppler shifts of this spectral line. Instead, the enhanced absorption appears to be a consequence of flare-energy injection, namely nonthermal collisional ionization of helium caused by the precipitation of high-energy electrons, as found in our recent numerical modeling results. In addition, though not strictly simultaneous, observations of Mg ii from the IRIS spacecraft, show an obvious central reversal pattern at the locations where enhanced absorption of He i 10830 Å is seen, which is consistent with previous observations.

Four-dimensional compressed spectropolarimetric imaging

Polarized hyperspectral images contain rich information representing both surface texture and spectral signature of target scene. However, it is difficult to obtain the full-Stokes parameters of hyperspectral images directly. A compressive imaging system is proposed in this paper to recover the four-dimensional polarized hyperspectral images with full-Stokes parameters using quarter-wave plate (QWP) and liquid crystal tunable filter (LCTF). Changing the fast axis angle of QWP provides the degrees of freedom to modulate the polarization states. The LCTF serves as the broad-band spectral filter to modulate the spectral signatures. The output of LCTF is modulated by a coded aperture in spatial domain, and then the modulated polarized hyperspectral images are projected and multiplexed on a two-dimensional detector. Based on the compressive sensing theory, the full-Stokes polarized hyperspectral images can be reconstructed from several compressive measurements by solving the convex optimization problems with sparsity prior. The feasibility of proposed system is verified by simulations and experiments. Compared to the traditional compressive spectropolarimetric imaging methods, the proposed method is beneficial to reduce the compression rate, and thus shorten the data acquisition time. This work also paves a new way for the full-Stokes polarized hyperspectral imaging system with simple and compact structure.

Lenslet-based snapshot full-Stokes imaging spectropolarimeter

A lenslet-based snapshot channeled imaging spectropolarimeter (SCISP) system is presented. By introducing the multiple-image Fourier transform imaging spectrometer into the archetype of channeled spectropolarimetry, SCISP can simultaneously acquire the three-dimensional spatial and spectral (x,y,λ) data-cube for each of the Stokes parameters S0, S1, S2 and S3 in a snapshot using a single detector. The validity and accuracy of SCISP are showcased by attaining the outdoor spectral-polarimetric video and different laboratory accuracy experiments. Unlike conventional channeled spectropolarimeters, SCISP maintains the real snapshot feature (2D spatial imaging) and it is compact, robust. These capacities of the camera open new prospects for many applications, such as remote sensing, space exploration, and biological analysis.

Implications of spicule activity on coronal loop heating and catastrophic cooling

ABSTRACT We report on the properties of coronal loop foot-point heating with observations at the highest resolution, from the CRisp Imaging Spectro-Polarimeter located at the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope and co-aligned NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory observations, of Type II spicules in the chromosphere and their signatures in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) corona. Here, we address one important issue, as to why there is not always a one-to-one correspondence, between Type II spicules and hot coronal plasma signatures, i.e. beyond TR temperatures. We do not detect any difference in their spectral properties in a quiet Sun region compared to a region dominated by coronal loops. On the other hand, the number density close to the foot-points in the active region is found to be an order of magnitude higher than in the quiet Sun case. A differential emission measure analysis reveals a peak at ∼5 × 105 K of the order of 1022 cm−5 K−1. Using this result as a constraint, we conduct numerical simulations and show that with an energy input of 1.25 × 1024 erg (corresponding to ∼10 RBEs contributing to the burst) we manage to reproduce the observation very closely. However, simulation runs with lower thermal energy input do not reproduce the synthetic AIA 171 Å signatures, indicating that there is a critical number of spicules required in order to account for the AIA 171 Å signatures in the simulation. Furthermore, the higher energy (1.25 × 1024 erg) simulations reproduce catastrophic cooling with a cycle duration of ∼5 h, matching a periodicity we observe in the EUV observations.

Static full-Stokes Fourier transform imaging spectropolarimeter capturing spectral, polarization, and spatial characteristics.

A static full-Stokes Fourier transform imaging spectropolarimeter incorporating a liquid-crystal polarization modulator (LPM) and birefringent shearing interferometer (BSI) is reported. It can decode the polarization information at each wavelength along the spatial dimension of a two-dimensional data array. The LPM has a high-speed time-division architecture and employs two ferroelectric liquid crystals and two wave plates to produce four polarization states, providing full-Stokes polarimetric information with a high signal-to-noise ratio. The BSI comprises two birefringent crystal plates and generates an optical path difference with good linear distribution for broadband interference, allowing a fast and high-precision spectral recovery. The optimized design of LPM and BSI are introduced in detail. Subsequently, the signal reconstruction is verified through simulations and experiments. The proposed scheme is highly efficient, exhibits a higher spectral resolution, and constitutes a compact technical approach to realize high-dimensional optical measurement.

The Nature of High-frequency Oscillations Associated with Short-lived Spicule-type Events

Abstract We investigate high-resolution spectroscopic and imaging observations from the CRisp Imaging SpectroPolarimeter (CRISP) instrument to study the dynamics of chromospheric spicule-type events. It is widely accepted that chromospheric fine structures are waveguides for several types of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) oscillations, which can transport energy from the lower to upper layers of the Sun. We provide a statistical study of 30 high-frequency waves associated with spicule-type events. These high-frequency oscillations have two components of transverse motions: the plane-of-sky (POS) motion and the line-of-sight (LOS) motion. We focus on single isolated spicules and track the POS using time–distance analysis and in the LOS direction using Doppler information. We use moment analysis to find the relation between the two motions. The composition of these two motions suggests that the wave has a helical structure. The oscillations do not have phase differences between points along the structure. This may be the result of the oscillation being a standing mode, or that propagation is mostly in the perpendicular direction. There is evidence of fast magnetoacoustic wave fronts propagating across these structures. To conclude, we hypothesize that the compression and rarefaction of passing magnetoacoustic waves may influence the appearance of spicule-type events, not only by contributing to moving them in and out of the wing of the spectral line but also through the creation of density enhancements and an increase in opacity in the Hα line.

Channeled imaging spectropolarimeter reconstruction by neural networks.

Snapshot channeled imaging spectropolarimetry (SCISP), which can achieve spectral and polarization imaging without scanning (a single exposure), is a promising optical technique. As Fourier transform is used to reconstruct information, SCISP has its inherent limitations such as channel crosstalk, resolution and accuracy drop, the complex phase calibration, et al. To overcome these drawbacks, a nonlinear technique based on neural networks (NNs) is introduced to replace the role of Fourier reconstruction. Herein, abundant spectral and polarization datasets were built through specially designed generators. The established NNs can effectively learn the forward conversion procedure through minimizing a loss function, subsequently enabling a stable output containing spectral, polarization, and spatial information. The utility and reliability of the proposed technique is confirmed by experiments, which are proved to maintain high spectral and polarization accuracy.

Kottamia Faint Imaging Spectro-Polarimeter (KFISP): opto-mechanical design, software control and performance analysis.

In this paper we describe the Kottamia Faint Imaging Spectro-Polarimeter (KFISP) that has been recently developed and designed to be mounted at the Cassegrain focus of the 1.88 m telescope at Kottamia Astronomical Observatory (KAO), Egypt. The optical design of KFISP is developed such that it can be used in various modes of operation. These are: direct imaging, spectroscopic, polarimetric imaging, and spectro-polarimetric. The KFISP is an all-refractive design to meet the polarimetric requirements and includes a focal reducer with a corrector section, collimator section, parallel beam section (containing various imaging components), and camera section. The corrector section gives an unvignetted Field-of-View of 8ʹ × 8ʹ and the collimator section has a focal length of 305 mm and matches the focal ratio of the input beam. The parallel beam section is 200 mm long and near the middle of it there is an image of the telescope pupil. The camera section includes 5 elements and has a focal length of 154.51 mm which gives an instrument effective final focal ratio of f/6.14 (acting as a telescope focal reducer of 1:2 ratio). The KFISP contains an internal calibration system which hosts the calibration light injection system, an integrating sphere equipped with the required calibration light sources. The opto-mechanical parts of KFISP contain a double-layered carbon fiber strut structure and comprises its subsystems of slit and guider assemblies, filter wheel drawer, grism wheel drawer, polarimetric components cubical box, and CCD camera which is integrated with camera optics. The CCD camera has 2048 times 2048 pixels with 13.5-micron square pixel size. The camera is cooled by liquid Nitrogen and is fixed to the KFISP through the integrated camera lens. The KFISP has been fully commissioned, mounted and is being tested in all modes of operation. In this paper we introduce the ambitious scientific goals, the optical setups of KFISP, its opto-mechanical implementation and the performance analysis of the instrument. In addition, we describe the camera system, its performance, and its software control. Finally, we present a sample of the first light observations obtained from the instrument.