Tunable electro-optic filter stack

A hyperspectral imaging system comprising:

• a hyperspectral imager that includes a holographic polymer dispersed liquid crystal (HPDLC) tunable optical filter through which light passes, the hyperspectral imager configured to acquire and spectrally multiplex hyperspectral imaging data, wherein:
• the HPDLC tunable optical filter comprises a stacked assembly of two or more HPDLC thin film elements, each HPDLC thin film element being switchable between a light reflecting state and a transparent or semitransparent state with a switching time of no more than twenty microseconds;
• and
• each HPDLC thin film element, when in its light reflecting state, reflects a different Bragg wavelength than the other HPDLC thin film elements such that when exposed to incident light and in its respective reflecting state, each HPDLC thin film element allows a different spectrum of incident light to be transmitted through the stack,
• the collective sets of spectra of incident light from the plurality of HPDLC thin film elements being the hyperspectral imaging data.