Imaging multispectral polarimetric sensor: single-pixel design, fabrication, and characterization

A discrete-component approach was taken to establish the operational feasibility of a novel, imaging, midinfrared, multispectral, polarimetric sensor for remote-sensing application. The sensor is designed to exploit the spectral and polarimetric characteristics of the scene as discriminants. Pixelated multispectral filters and polarization filters were designed and fabricated on sapphire and Si substrates, respectively, and both were characterized. A single-pixel spectropolarimetric composite filter was characterized by use of a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer and a Pt-Si thermal-imaging camera. The experimental results show excellent agreement with theoretical predictions. (C) 2003 Optical Society of America.