Low SWaP-C hyperspectral metamaterial spectrometer (MMS) for narrow-band, wide angle-of-Incidence MWIR atmospheric sensing

We have developed a low SWaP-C enabling Metamaterial Spectrometer (MMS) device for hyperspectral imaging in the MWIR. Our chip-based MMS device couples a Distributed Bragg Stack filter with a sub-wavelength dielectric resonator metasurface. The former gives the device a narrow passband, while the latter can be pixelated into an arbitrary number of parallel spectral channels, each with an independently engineerable center wavelength and bandwidth to create a hyperspectral or multispectral filter. The all-dielectric structure provides low optical loss vs. metallic plasmonic resonators. The metasurface resonators are engineered to accept light across a wide angle-of-incidence cone while being integrated directly into existing focal plane array (FPA) detectors. A wide acceptance cone of light eliminates the need for collimating optics, thereby reducing the SWaP requirements of the MMS relative to competing technologies. The MMS can be fabricated on a wafer scale using standard nanofabrication techniques, which are cost-effective for highvolume manufacturing. Although our initial prototype has been implemented in the MWIR, the generalized MMS structure can be implemented in other infrared spectral ranges by via appropriate choices of materials and rescaling of dimensions. Potential commercial applications of the hyperspectral MMS include environmental monitoring, medical diagnostics, antiterrorism, forensics, and food safety.