Compact birefringent spectrometer

A spectrometer for discerning components of collimated light comprising:

• a P-polarizer for P-polarizing said collimated light;
• an input optically transparent element having an input surface for receiving said P-polarized light and for transmitting said P-polarized light to a boundary surface of said input element, said input element being of a material that is of relatively high light dispersiveness that separates said P-polarized light into wavelength dependent (k-vector) directions representative of different colors, said input element being aligned with respect to said boundary surface to a maximize the dispersive effect of said material so that Snell component values at said boundary surface are made markedly different for different wavelengths of said P-polarized light;
• and
• an output optically transparent element for receiving said P-polarized light as transmitted through said input element and presented at said boundary surface and having an output surface for emitting light within a desired passband when present, said output element being of a highly birefringent, relatively low light dispersiveness material having an optic axis other than normal to said boundary surface and aligned to maximize the birefringence effect of said material, said material being characterized by having a plurality of index surfaces corresponding to different colors so that a Snell's component received from said input element within said passband aligns tangentially with one of said index surfaces to propagate light within said desired passband through said outer surface in the direction of a ray vector that is substantially parallel to said boundary surface.