Real-time aerial multispectral imaging solutions using dichroic filter arrays

摘要

The next generation of multispectral sensors and cameras needs to deliver significant improvements in size, weight, portability, and spectral band customization to support widespread commercial deployment for a variety of purpose-built aerial, unmanned, and scientific applications. The benefits of multispectral imaging are well established for applications including machine vision, biomedical, authentication, and remote sensing environments - but many aerial and OEM solutions require more compact, robust, and cost-effective production cameras to realize these benefits. A novel implementation uses micro-patterning of dichroic filters into Bayer and custom mosaics, enabling true real-time multispectral imaging with simultaneous multi-band image acquisition. Consistent with color camera image processing, individual spectral channels are de-mosaiced with each channel providing an image of the field of view. We demonstrate recent results of 4-9 band dichroic filter arrays in multispectral cameras using a variety of sensors including linear, area, silicon, and InGaAs. Specific implementations range from hybrid RGB + NIR sensors to custom sensors with application-specific VIS, NIR, and SWIR spectral bands. Benefits and tradeoffs of multispectral sensors using dichroic filter arrays are compared with alternative approaches - including their passivity, spectral range, customization options, and development path. Finally, we report on the wafer-level fabrication of dichroic filter arrays on imaging sensors for scalable production of multispectral sensors and cameras.