imec - Hyperspectral imaging System
Human eyesight is, of course, a miracle. Nevertheless, it’s mostly limited to three bands of the electromagnetic spectrum: red, green and blue. It cannot register fine details within these bands – let alone what’s outside the visible continuum, such as infrared.
Hyperspectral imaging is a technique to extract more spectral information from an image. It reveals more bands and extends beyond the visible spectrum.
Hyperspectral information is of great value for our understanding of the world. Most materials have a unique ‘spectral signature’ – even if they look the same to human eyes. This ability to see ‘true colors’ has revolutionary potential for a range of applications such as precision agriculture, earth observation, art analysis and medicine.
Imec leverages its background in semiconductor fab, equipment and process technology. And uses it to design and manufacture interference-based optical filters at wafer level. They`re deposited and patterned directly on top of image sensor pixels.
This unique CMOS-based infrastructure provides very compact, clean and high-yield optical filter integration with scalability to high-volume and low cost.
With the advent of more compact hyperspectral cameras and real-time hyperspectral imaging, a set of new applications comes to light. Some examples:
- agriculture – Often mounted on drones, light-weight hyperspectral cameras can detect the smallest differences in plants or soils and inform farmers and researchers about diseases, droughts, and so on. Learn more
- machine vision – Automated industrial processes such as classification, error detection and sorting benefit from a technology that can clearly and quickly distinguish superficially identical entities. Learn more
- medicine – Thanks to real-time hyperspectral imaging, it’s now possible to use hyperspectral imaging to inspect living tissue, for instance in diagnostic tools or during surgery. Learn more
- art and heritage – Historical artifacts have many stories to tell. The challenge is to uncover their secrets without touching, and sometimes even moving them. That’s where portable, high-resolution hyperspectral cameras come in. Learn more
- remote sensing – More and more observational satellites leave for space with a hyperspectral sensor on board. It enables them to make out the spectral signatures of soil, vegetation, minerals, ... Learn more
- forensics – Hyperspectral imaging’s ability to detect spectral fingerprints includes those of materials such as blood or gun powder. It identifies such markers at a crime scene without using chemicals that could tamper with the evidence. Learn more