Grating Sagnac Fourier transform spectrometer and its applications

The Active Hyperspectral Imaging (AHI) project at University of Hawaii uses the multi-color laser induced fluorescence to detect the low concentration molecules in the atmosphere. A high throughput, high spectral and time resolution receiver is required by this application. The stationary Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) is one candidate for this purpose. Compared to the traditional FTS, the stationary FTS has the advantage of high time resolution. However, the spectral resolution of the stationary FTS has been relatively low in the past two decades. We have invented and developed a novel stationary FTS based on a modified Sagnac interferometer. The use of multiple diffraction gratings greatly improves the spectral resolution of the interferometer. A prototype of two-grating Sagnac ITS is built. The theoretical resolving power of the prototype is 0.957 x 106 at HeNe wavelength, which corresponds to the resolution of 495 MHz in frequency. The 700--1000 MHz (<0.03 cm-1) resolution is obtained at 633 nm experimentally for the prototype. This is in full agreement with the theory and numerical simulation. The free spectral range of the prototype is more than 0.5 THz (>16.68 cm-1). The time resolution of the grating Sagnac FTS is transform-limited. The pulsed laser experiment demonstrates the 2 ∼ 3 nsec time resolution for the prototype of the two-grating Sagnac FTS.; The grating Sagnac FTS has wide tuning range. The same setup can cover the full visible spectral range by simply rotating the gratings. Although only visible spectrum is demonstrated, the grating Sagnac ITS can be used for UV and IR spectral measurement when different materials and detectors are used. The general theory on optimum N-grating Sagnac FTS is developed. The higher spectral resolution is possible when more gratings are used. A successful computer model is built up to help us design the system.; The characteristic of high spectral resolution and high time resolution makes the grating Sagnac FTS have the potential in applications such as real-time spectral monitoring, pulsed dye laser mode structure fluctuation study and the future free electron laser (FEL) mode decay measurement.