Interlaced Diffractive Grating

A line-scan hyperspectral imaging system comprising:

• a first lens;
• a slit;
• a collimating lens;
• an interlaced optical grating;
• a second lens;
• and
• a 2-dimensional detector array;
• wherein the first lens is configured to collect light from a scene and focus onto the slit, the collimating lens is configured to collimate the light from the slit onto the interlaced optical grating, and the second lens is configured to focus the light dispersed by the interlaced optical grating onto the 2-dimensional detector array;
• wherein the interlaced optical grating comprises alternating bands of at least a first grating band and second grating band, and the at least first and second grating bands have unique grating densities.

A point detection spectrometer system comprising:

• a first lens;
• a slit;
• a collimating lens;
• a variable optical grating;
• a second lens;
• a linear detector array;
• and
• a translation stage;
• wherein the first lens is configured to collect light from a scene and focus onto the slit, the collimating lens is configured to collimate the light from the slit onto the variable optical grating, and the second lens is configured to focus the light dispersed by the variable optical grating onto the linear detector array;
• wherein the variable optical grating comprises at least a first and second grating regions, and the at least first and second grating regions have unique grating densities;
• wherein the translation stage is configured to move the first or second grating region into an optical path between the collimating lens and the second lens.

A method of performing a hyperspectral imaging comprising:

• focusing, by a first lens, light from a scene onto a slit;
• collimating, by a collimating lens, light from the slit onto an interlaced grating;
• focusing, by a second lens, light dispersed by the interlaced grating onto a 2-dimensional detector array;
• wherein the interlaced grating comprises alternating bands of at least a first grating band and second grating band, and the at least first and second grating bands have unique grating densities.

A method of performing a spectrometer measurement comprising:

• moving, by a translation stage, a selected region of a variable optical grating into an optical path between a collimating lens and a second lens;
• focusing, by a first lens, light from a scene onto a slit;
• collimating, by the collimating lens, light from the slit onto the selected region of the variable optical grating;
• focusing, by a second lens, light dispersed by the variable optical grating onto a linear detector array;
• wherein the variable optical grating comprises at least a first and second grating regions, and the at least first and second grating regions have unique grating densities.