Mass production-enabled computational spectrometers based on multilayer thin films

Multilayer thin film (MTF) filter arrays for computational spectroscopy are fabricated using stencil lithography. The MTF filter array is a 6 × 6 square grid, and 169 identical arrays are fabricated on a single wafer. A computational spectrometer is formed by attaching the MTF filter array on a complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor. With a single exposure, 36 unique intensities of incident light are collected. The spectrum of the incident light is recovered using collected intensities and numerical optimization techniques. Varied light sources in the wavelength range of 500 to 849 nm are recovered with a spacing of 1 nm. The reconstructed spectra are a good match with the reference spectra, measured by a grating-based spectrometer. We also demonstrate computational pinhole spectral imaging using the MTF filter array. Adapting a spectral scanning method, we collect 36 monochromatic filtered images and reconstructed 350 monochromatic images in the wavelength range of 500 to 849 nm, with a spacing of 1 nm. These computational spectrometers could be useful for various applications that require compact size, high resolution, and wide working range.