Spatially and spectrally parallelized fiber array spectral translator system and method of use

1. A method comprising:

illuminating a sample to thereby generate a plurality of interacted photons selected from the group consisting of: photons scattered by the sample, photons absorbed by the sample, photons reflected by the sample, photons emitted by the sample, and combinations thereof;

passing said photons through a filter, wherein said filter is configured so as to effectively restrict the spectral range under analysis;

receiving said photons at a two-dimensional end of a fiber array spectral translator device, wherein said fiber array spectral translator device comprises: a two-dimensional array of optical fibers drawn into a one-dimensional fiber stack so as to effectively convert a two-dimensional field of view into a curvilinear field of view, and wherein said two-dimensional array of optical fibers is configured to receive said photons and transfer said photons out of said fiber array spectral translator device and to a spectrograph through said one-dimensional fiber stack wherein said one-dimensional fiber stack comprises at least two columns of fibers spatially offset in parallel at the entrance slit of said spectrograph; and

detecting said photons at a detector to thereby obtain a spectroscopic data set representative of said sample.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein each fiber of said fiber array spectral translator device is associated with a different predetermined region of said sample.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said predetermined region of said sample comprises a non-overlapping two-dimensional region, wherein each said region includes a predetermined number of fibers.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein at least two predetermined regions of said sample overlap.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said filter is selected from the group consisting of: a fixed filter, a tunable filter, a dielectric filter, and combinations thereof.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said filter is selected from the group consisting of: a Fabry Perot angle tuned filter, an acousto-optic tunable filter, a liquid crystal tunable filter, a Lyot filter, an Evans split element liquid crystal tunable filter, a Solc liquid crystal tunable filter, a fixed wavelength Fabry Perot tunable filter, an air-tuned Fabry Perot tunable filter, a mechanically-tuned Fabry Perot tunable filter, a liquid crystal Fabry Perot tunable filter, a multi-conjugate tunable filter, and combinations thereof.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said detector is selected from the group consisting of: a charge-coupled device, a complementary metal oxide semiconductor detector, a focal plane array sensor, and combinations thereof.

8. A system comprising:

an illumination source for illuminating a sample to thereby generate a plurality of interacted photons selected from the group consisting of: photons scattered by the sample, photons absorbed by the sample, photons reflected by the sample, photons emitted by the sample, and combinations thereof;

a collection lens for collecting said interacted photons;

a filter through which said photons are passed, wherein said filter is configured so as to effectively restrict the spectral range under analysis;

a fiber array spectral translator device, wherein said fiber array spectral translator device comprises: a two-dimensional array of optical fibers drawn into a one-dimensional fiber stack so as to effectively convert a two-dimensional field of view into a curvilinear field of view, and wherein said two-dimensional array of optical fibers is configured to receive said photons and transfer said photons out of said fiber array spectral translator device and to a spectrograph through said one-dimensional fiber stack wherein said one-dimensional fiber stack comprises at least two columns of fibers spatially offset in parallel at the entrance slit of said spectrograph;

a spectrograph for separating said photons into a plurality of wavelengths; and

a detector for detecting said photons to thereby generate a spectroscopic data set representative of said sample.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein said filter is positioned between said collection optics and said two-dimensional end of said fiber array spectral translator device.

10. The system of claim 8 wherein said filter is positioned inside said spectrograph.

11. The system of claim 8 wherein said filter is selected from the group consisting of: a fixed filter, a tunable filter, a dielectric filter, and combinations thereof.

12. The system of claim 8 wherein said filter is selected from the group consisting of: a Fabry Perot angle tuned filter, an acousto-optic tunable filter, a liquid crystal tunable filter, a Lyot filter, an Evans split element liquid crystal tunable filter, a Solc liquid crystal tunable filter, a fixed wavelength Fabry Perot tunable filter, an air-tuned Fabry Perot tunable filter, a mechanically-tuned Fabry Perot tunable filter, a liquid crystal Fabry Perot tunable filter, a multi-conjugate tunable filter, and combinations thereof.

13. The system of claim 8 wherein said detector is selected from the group consisting of: a charge-coupled device, a complementary metal oxide semiconductor device, a focal plane array sensor, and combinations thereof.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein said obtaining of said spectroscopic data set further comprises reconstructing an image representative of said sample.

15. The system of claim 8 wherein said detector is further configured so as to reconstruct an image representative of said sample.