The Linearly Variable Filters (LVF) are complex optical devices that, integrated in a CCD, can realize a "single chip spectrometer". In the framework of an ESA Study, a team of industries and institutes led by SELEX-Galileo explored the design principles and manufacturing techniques, realizing and characterizing LVF samples based both on All-Dielectric (AD) and Metal-Dielectric (MD) Coating Structures in the VNIR and SWIR spectral ranges. In particular the achieved performances on spectral gradient, transmission bandwidth and Spectral Attenuation (SA) are presented and critically discussed. Potential improvements will be highlighted. In addition the results of a feasibility study of a SWIR Linear Variable Filter are presented with the comparison of design prediction and measured performances. Finally criticalities related to the filter-CCD packaging are discussed.
The main achievements reached during these activities have been:
- to evaluate by design, manufacturing and test of LVF samples the achievable performances compared with target requirements;
- to evaluate the reliability of the projects by analyzing their repeatability;
- to define suitable measurement methodologies
Multispectral or hyperspectral images allow acquiring new information that could not be acquired using colored images and, for example, identifying chemical species on an observed scene using specific highly selective filters.
Small satellites are often used by spatial agencies to meet scientific spatial mission requirements. Their payloads are composed of various instruments collecting an increasing amount of data, as well as respecting the growing constraints relative to volume and mass; So small-sized integrated camera have taken a favored place among these instruments. To ensure scene specific color information sensing, pixelated filters seem to be more attractive than filter wheels. The work presented here, in collaboration with Institut Fresnel, deals with the manufacturing of this kind of component, based on thin film technologies and photolithography processes. CCD detectors with a pixel pitch about 30 μm were considered. In the configuration where the matrix filters are positioned the closest to the detector, the matrix filters are composed of 2x2 macro pixels (e.g. 4 filters). These 4 filters have a bandwidth about 40 nm and are respectively centered at 550, 700, 770 and 840 nm with a specific rejection rate defined on the visible spectral range [500 – 900 nm]. After an intense design step, 4 thin-film structures have been elaborated with a maximum thickness of 5 μm. A run of tests has allowed us to choose the optimal micro-structuration parameters. The 100x100 matrix filters prototypes have been successfully manufactured with lift-off and ion assisted deposition processes. High spatial and spectral characterization, with a dedicated metrology bench, showed that initial specifications and simulations were globally met. These excellent performances knock down the technological barriers for high-end integrated specific multi spectral imaging.
The need for imaging systems for onboard scientific applications (e.g. for planetology) is becoming of prime interest. Today’s CCD scientific cameras do not provide spectral information of the observed scene. Multi-spectral imaging therefore requires the usage of filters wheels which allow achieving the required optical performances but are a heavy and bulky solution that make them non-adapted for space missions. The goal of this work consisted in developing pixelated filters that could be directly integrated in front of an onboard CCD camera in order to provide with the required spectral information without significantly changing the volume and the weight of the whole system. In this paper, we show the first demonstration of 2×2-array pixelated optical filters with 30 × 30 μm2 pixel size. Four bandpass filters centered at 550, 700, 770 and 840 nm, about 40 nm bandwidth and rejecting in a broadband from 500 to 900 nm were designed. These filters were then fabricated by a masking technique using lift-off processes with two photoresists in order to secure sharp edges for each pixel and ion assisted deposition. Local mapping of the transmission of each pixelated filter was finally carried out with a dedicated system. Comparative measurements between witness samples and filters prototypes show that the pixelated filters have performances comparable to the witness 25 mm aperture filters. This new technology therefore paves a way to the fabrication of multispectral imagers with versatile spectral specifications.
We present a novel application of optical tunneling in the context of high-angular resolution, high-contrast techniques with the aim of improving direct imaging capabilities of faint companions in the vicinity of bright stars. In contrast to existing techniques like coronagraphy, we apply well-established techniques from integrated optics to exclusively extinct a very narrow angular direction coming from the sky. This extinction is achieved in the pupil plane and does not suffer from diffraction pattern residuals. We give a comprehensive presentation of the underlying theory as well as first laboratory results.
Characterization of the spectral transmission of micro-patterned optical coatings requires accurate and highly localized
measurement means. However, the capabilities of commercial equipments are generally limited, and either they do not
provide sufficient spatial and spectral resolution, or they modify the spectral transmittance properties of the sample by
using a large half angle illuminating light cone.
In this work, we propose a new approach based on the recording, using a high performance photodiode array camera, of
monochromatic magnified images of the sample illuminated by a filtered and fiber-coupled super-continuum laser
source. In such case, the spatial resolution is directly given by the size of the individual CCD pixels and by the
magnification of the imaging objective, while the spectral resolution is defined by the slit width of the filtering
monochromator.
This paper will give a detailed description of the main features of this spectrophotometric bench, and will demonstrate its
ability to record the spectral transmittance of patterned samples with micrometer spatial resolution and sub-nanometer
spectral resolution in the visible and near infrared ranges.
The following article describes the coatings of both Fabry-Perot (FP) etalons to be installed in the integral
field spectrometer 3D-NTT. This simultaneous use of two FP etalons of high and low resolution respectively
is the new concept upon which the 3D-NTT is built. Design and fabrication of the coatings of those etalons is
a critical step to be able to achieve the desired performances of the instrument. More precisely, these etalons
will have to show less than a 10% variation of the finesse from 370 to 900nm and a better than lambda/100
cumulative optical uniformity over a Ø100mm surface. The aim is thus to design high-reflectivity coatings for
each of the FP etalon. The design process of the two sets of coatings will be described first, then the expected
performances of each etalon will be presented and finally the progresses in the making of these coatings will be
discussed.
This paper presents the development and tests in the thermal infrared of Integrated Optics (IO) technology in preparation of ESA's space mission Darwin. This mission aims to detect and characterize earth-like planets orbiting solar-type stars, using nulling interferometry in the spectral range 6 - 20 μm. Since typically 1:1e6 rejection of starlight is required, wavefront modal filtering is mandatory. Thus, mid-infrared single-mode IO is being developed in the framework of the ESA-funded "Integrated Optics for Darwin" project. Beyond its wavefront filtering capabilities, an IO component may support various optical functions, and is thus likely to ease instrumental design. This paper addresses the manufacturing process and the characterization tests results of newly developed IO devices. Investigated solutions are dielectric waveguides based on Chalcogenide glasses and Hollow Metallic Waveguides. In a first phase, the pre-selected technological solutions were validated and modal behavior of the manufactured devices was demonstrated, both through polarization and spectral analysis. Preliminary nulling ratios up to 5000 have been obtained with an IO modal filter in the 6 - 20 μm range. In a second phase of the project, the development of more complex IO functions was attempted. The methods used to validate the waveguide behavior and interferometric capabilities are also discussed. After achieving 1:1e5 polychromatic extinctions with similar solutions in the near IR, the presented results further underline the credibility of a mid-infrared IO concept for Darwin.
For characterisation of non-uniform thin film coatings optical measurements should be performed with spatial resolution often much higher than that of conventional spectrophotometers. Here we present two different instruments constructed for transmittance and reflectance measurement of spatially non-uniform coatings. One of the setups is based on localized light distribution with a help of calibrated apertures, mapping needing sample displacement, while the other setup acquires the sample map 'at-once' with a CCD camera, spatial resolution being given by the pixel size. The spatial resolution ranges from 100 μm up to 2 mm for the first instrument, and is 30 μm for the second one. The spectral resolution of the first setup is about 0.5 nm in the range from 400 nm to 1700 nm, while for the second instruments it is 0.1 nm in the range 400-1000 nm.
Besides the real optical performance of an optical device in terms of its spatially variable transmission and reflection, a 'mapping' of the thickness and refractive index of a single layer coating can be achieved. Comparison of the results obtained with these two instruments is given for two examples of coatings. The proposed instruments are useful tools for characterisation of both intended and undesired non-uniformity of optical coatings.
Linear variables filters are band-pass multilayer coatings manufactured with a thickness gradient that allows a significant wavelength shift of the centring wavelength of the filter according to the point that is illuminated. In case such a filter is
associated with a 2D matrix detector in order to form a compact spectrometer, iso-thickness lines must be as straight as possible, perpendicularly to the thickness gradient. To answer this problem, we developed a masking mechanism that combine the classical rotation movement of substrates and a translation movement for the mask, this last movement being induced during the rotation by the mean of a cam. Thickness gradient can be freely adjusted according to specifications, while transverse uniformity is 99.9%.
The artificial reproduction of some coloration effects (for instance nacre aspect, iridescence) which appear spontaneously in the nature needs a right description of the different mechanisms which are involved in these phenomena and especially, a detailed analysis of the spectral behavior of the light scattered by such surfaces. With this aim in sight, we have developed a dedicated set-up for the recording of the reflectance distribution function of solid samples in the whole visible spectral range. We have also analyzed the different methods which are able to describe the color information for
scattered light. First experimental results obtained on some organic glass windows are given in conclusion.
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