The Optical System Design of a Space-Based Wide-Field Infrared Slitless Spectrometer

With the increasingly complex space environment, the operational safety of spacecraft faces severe challenges, creating an urgent need to develop efficient and reliable space target detection and identification technologies. Traditional optical detection equipment faces significant challenges in spa...

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Main Authors: Yue Chen, Liang Zhou, Peiquan Chen, Pengkai Dong, Haiyang Zhang, Wenji She
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Photonics
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6732/12/5/445
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author Yue Chen
Liang Zhou
Peiquan Chen
Pengkai Dong
Haiyang Zhang
Wenji She
author_facet Yue Chen
Liang Zhou
Peiquan Chen
Pengkai Dong
Haiyang Zhang
Wenji She
author_sort Yue Chen
collection DOAJ
description With the increasingly complex space environment, the operational safety of spacecraft faces severe challenges, creating an urgent need to develop efficient and reliable space target detection and identification technologies. Traditional optical detection equipment faces significant challenges in space target detection and identification due to the low signal-to-noise ratio of space targets. To address the limited field of view (FOV) of traditional spectrometers, this paper proposes an improved wide-FOV infrared slitless spectrometer system based on the Dyson spectrometer. The system consists of three main components: a front telescope system, a spectral dispersion system, and a relay lens system. The front telescope system adopts a Ritchey–Chrétien structure and incorporates a correction lens group to enhance imaging quality. To overcome the practical challenges of conventional Dyson spectrometers—such as the high difficulty and cost in manufacturing and aligning concave gratings—an improved Dyson spectrometer based on a planar blazed grating is designed. A collimating lens group is incorporated to reduce spectral line curvature and chromatic aberration while ensuring a linear spectral dispersion relationship, achieving “spectrum-value unification” in the system. Additionally, a secondary imaging relay lens system is designed to ensure 100% cold stop matching efficiency, thereby minimizing stray light interference. Through optimization and ray tracing using optical design software, the final system achieves a field of view of 0.69° × 0.55°, a spectral resolution of 8.41 nm/pixel, spectral line curvature and chromatic aberration both below 10 µm, and a nearly linear spectral dispersion relationship, realizing spectrum-value unification to facilitate target identification. This infrared slitless spectrometer can stably acquire the spectral characteristics of space targets without requiring high-precision theodolites, providing a novel technical solution for the identification of dynamic space targets. It holds broad application prospects in space surveillance and related fields.
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spelling doaj-art-8e366e89a8754e348c5f6a92ae04cb6a2025-08-20T01:56:41ZengMDPI AGPhotonics2304-67322025-05-0112544510.3390/photonics12050445The Optical System Design of a Space-Based Wide-Field Infrared Slitless SpectrometerYue Chen0Liang Zhou1Peiquan Chen2Pengkai Dong3Haiyang Zhang4Wenji She5Xi’an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of CAS, Xi’an 710119, ChinaXi’an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of CAS, Xi’an 710119, ChinaXi’an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of CAS, Xi’an 710119, ChinaXi’an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of CAS, Xi’an 710119, ChinaXi’an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of CAS, Xi’an 710119, ChinaXi’an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of CAS, Xi’an 710119, ChinaWith the increasingly complex space environment, the operational safety of spacecraft faces severe challenges, creating an urgent need to develop efficient and reliable space target detection and identification technologies. Traditional optical detection equipment faces significant challenges in space target detection and identification due to the low signal-to-noise ratio of space targets. To address the limited field of view (FOV) of traditional spectrometers, this paper proposes an improved wide-FOV infrared slitless spectrometer system based on the Dyson spectrometer. The system consists of three main components: a front telescope system, a spectral dispersion system, and a relay lens system. The front telescope system adopts a Ritchey–Chrétien structure and incorporates a correction lens group to enhance imaging quality. To overcome the practical challenges of conventional Dyson spectrometers—such as the high difficulty and cost in manufacturing and aligning concave gratings—an improved Dyson spectrometer based on a planar blazed grating is designed. A collimating lens group is incorporated to reduce spectral line curvature and chromatic aberration while ensuring a linear spectral dispersion relationship, achieving “spectrum-value unification” in the system. Additionally, a secondary imaging relay lens system is designed to ensure 100% cold stop matching efficiency, thereby minimizing stray light interference. Through optimization and ray tracing using optical design software, the final system achieves a field of view of 0.69° × 0.55°, a spectral resolution of 8.41 nm/pixel, spectral line curvature and chromatic aberration both below 10 µm, and a nearly linear spectral dispersion relationship, realizing spectrum-value unification to facilitate target identification. This infrared slitless spectrometer can stably acquire the spectral characteristics of space targets without requiring high-precision theodolites, providing a novel technical solution for the identification of dynamic space targets. It holds broad application prospects in space surveillance and related fields.https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6732/12/5/445slitless spectrometerRitchey–Chrétien telescopeDyson spectrometerwide-field spectrometerradiation characterizationspace targets
spellingShingle Yue Chen
Liang Zhou
Peiquan Chen
Pengkai Dong
Haiyang Zhang
Wenji She
The Optical System Design of a Space-Based Wide-Field Infrared Slitless Spectrometer
Photonics
slitless spectrometer
Ritchey–Chrétien telescope
Dyson spectrometer
wide-field spectrometer
radiation characterization
space targets
title The Optical System Design of a Space-Based Wide-Field Infrared Slitless Spectrometer
title_full The Optical System Design of a Space-Based Wide-Field Infrared Slitless Spectrometer
title_fullStr The Optical System Design of a Space-Based Wide-Field Infrared Slitless Spectrometer
title_full_unstemmed The Optical System Design of a Space-Based Wide-Field Infrared Slitless Spectrometer
title_short The Optical System Design of a Space-Based Wide-Field Infrared Slitless Spectrometer
title_sort optical system design of a space based wide field infrared slitless spectrometer
topic slitless spectrometer
Ritchey–Chrétien telescope
Dyson spectrometer
wide-field spectrometer
radiation characterization
space targets
url https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6732/12/5/445
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