Resolution- and throughput-enhanced spectroscopy using high-throughput computational slit

TL;DR

This paper introduces high-throughput computational slits (HTCS), a numerical method that enhances both spectral resolution and efficiency in optical spectrometers, overcoming a fundamental tradeoff through experimental validation.

Contribution

The paper presents the novel HTCS technique, enabling simultaneous improvement of spectral resolution and throughput in spectrometers, which was previously difficult to achieve.

Findings

Spectral resolution improved by ~50% with HTCS

Efficiency increased by over 2 times using HTCS

Highly accurate spectra obtained with the proposed method

Abstract

There exists a fundamental tradeoff between spectral resolution and the efficiency or throughput for all optical spectrometers. The primary factors affecting the spectral resolution and throughput of an optical spectrometer are the size of the entrance aperture and the optical power of the focusing element. Thus far collective optimization of the above mentioned has proven difficult. Here, we introduce the concept of high-throughput computational slits (HTCS), a numerical technique for improving both the effective spectral resolution and efficiency of a spectrometer. The proposed HTCS approach was experimentally validated using an optical spectrometer configured with a 200 um entrance aperture, test, and a 50 um entrance aperture, control, demonstrating improvements in spectral resolution of the spectrum by ~ 50% over the control spectral resolution and improvements in efficiency of > 2 times over the efficiency of the largest entrance aperture used in the study while producing highly accurate spectra.