Compact, low-distortion imaging spectrometer for remote sensing

We describe a pushbroom imaging spectrometer having a number of attractive features for remote sensing applications, including compact and simple form, good image quality, high efficiency, and very low levels of distortion. These properties are made possible by the unique characteristics of convex gratings manufactured by electron-beam lithography. A laboratory prototype has been built and is under evaluation. It has an f-number of 2.8, covers a spectral band from 400 to 1000 nm with 3 nm spectral resolution and has 750 spatial elements across the entrance slit. Experimental results are shown that demonstrate very low distortion, on the level of 2% of a pixel.