Design, development and characterization of an integrated multispectral polarimetric sensor system

Abstract

In this thesis, a new type of integrated imaging sensor is introduced to detect multispectral and polarimetric signatures in an infrared scene. The sensor is a stack consisting of an infrared detector array, and an array of multispectral and polarimetric filters. In this first phase of the research, a single-pixel sensor was built. Multispectral filters were initially fabricated for the 3-5 micron waveband on sapphire substrates and polarimetric filters on silicon substrates. These were characterized separately and in mechanical contact as a single unit. The transmission characteristics of both filters show excellent agreement with the theoretical results. When the filters are integrated into an imaging sensor, such a sensor is anticipated to improve image contrast with sensor-fusion post processing. In addition, it will offer portability and robustness because of its integrated nature.