Imec introduces broad-spectrum hyperspectral imaging solutions

San Francisco, CA, and Leuven, Belgium. At this week’s SPIE Photonics West, imec will present a new set of hyperspectral sensor and camera solutions with extended spectral range, going from the visible light (VIS) up to near infrared (NIR). The new line-scan VNIR (visible to near-infrared) sensor and snapshot mosaic VNIR camera outperform current solutions in spectral range and compactness.

Applications for the line-scan sensor include machine vision and remote sensing—such as precision agriculture using UAVs and satellites. It features 140+ bands in the 470- to 900-nm range. Its small form factor is the result of extreme integration of the hyperspectral filter onto the CMOS sensor.

“Leveraging our learnings from previous versions of our line-scan hyperspectral sensor, we developed a new process that enabled us to deposit spectral filter banks in both the visible and near infrared range on the same CMOS sensor. This achievement extends our sensing solutions within medical, precision agriculture, remote sensing, and industrial applications,” explained Andy Lambrechts, program manager for integrated vision solutions at imec.

Imec’s 450- ro 875-nm snapshot dual-sensor camera targets applications where dynamc effects are imaged—especially medical, machine vision, and security surveillance. By integrating, within one single unified dual-sensor camera architecture, a 16-band 4×4 mosaic sensor covering the 450-to 600-nm range together with a 25-band 5×5 mosaic sensor covering the 600- to 875-nm range, imec realized a solution that covers a broad spectral range from visible to near-infrared while maintaining high spatial and spectral resolution tradeoffs.

“Working closely with two of our camera partners, VRmagic and Cubert Gmbh, we have realized one of the most advanced snapshot hyperspectral imaging cameras. It captures 40+ bands ranging from 450 to 875 m, at video-rate-speed acquisition. This achievement clearly sets a new milestone for the real-time snapshot hyperspectral imaging camera market,” explained Jerome Baron, business development manager for integrated imaging at imec.

Imec’s new line-scan (visible to near infrared) VNIR sensor and snapshot mosaic VNIR camera will be demonstrated at SPIE Photonics West through February 18 and will be available for early sampling to strategic partners from April 2016.