Simultaneous spectral imaging system including commonly filtered optical paths defined by focusing elements exhibiting disparate f-numbers

Abstract

A multi-image detector assembly for detecting a plurality of correlated images of a single scene over a plurality of disparate electromagnetic wavelength sets includes an imaging-sensor array, a plurality of focusing elements and a plurality of optical filtering elements. The imaging-sensor array has a plurality of detector-array sections, each of which detector-array sections comprises at least two detector-array subsections dedicated to the detection of a common wavelength set associated with that detector-array section. Each focusing element is aligned for focusing upon a corresponding one of the plurality of detector-array sub-sections an image of the scene correlating to the images of the scene focused upon other detector-array sub-sections by the other focusing elements. Additionally, each focusing element and its corresponding detector-array sub-section defines an optical path and each detector-array section has associated with it at least two such optical paths. At least two detector-array subsections belonging to each common detector-array section are configured to register images that are commonly filtered by a single optical filtering element.