Development of an imaging hyperspectral camera using the ultraviolet and visible wavelength AOTF

A spectroscopic camera has been developed which has spectral resolution of less than 1.5nm in the ultraviolet (UV) and visible wavelength bands (320-580 nm). Its main components are a specially coated UV objective lens, a UV Acousto-Optic Tunable Filter (AOTF) with a thermo-electric cooling system, and a imaging system based on a high-gain avalanche rushing amorphous photoconductor (HARP) developed by NHK Science and Technical Research Laboratories. Research is currently under way to develop the hyperspectral camera into a sensor package for airborne and ultimately space-based remote sensing applications. This paper presents the basic principle and configuration of the hyperspectral camera, and gives details of tests to measure its performance. The results of spectral resolution tests analyzing very close two spectra from a helium-discharge lamp demonstrate the camera's high spectral resolution performance. Full color and spectral images obtained by a spectrometry experiment are also presented to demonstrate the camera's hyperspectral capabilities.