Powerful DMD-based light sources with a high throughput virtual slit

Many DMD-based programmable light sources consist of a white light source and a pair of spectrometers operating in subtractive mode. A DMD between the two spectrometers shapes the delivered spectrum. Since both spectrometers must (1) fit within a small volume, and (2) provide significant spectral resolution, a narrow intermediary slit is required. Another approach is to use a spectrometer designed around a High Throughput Virtual Slit, which enables higher spectral resolution than is achievable with conventional spectroscopy by manipulating the beam profile in pupil space. Conventional imaging spectrograph designs image the entrance slit onto the exit focal plane after dispersing the spectrum. Most often, near 1:1 imaging optics are used in order to optimize both entrance aperture and spectral resolution. This approach limits the spectral resolution to the product of the dispersion and the slit width. Achieving high spectral resolution in a compact instrument necessarily requires a narrow entrance slit, which limits instrumental throughput (étendue). By reshaping the pupil with reflective optics, HTVS-equipped instruments create a tall, narrow image profile at the exit focal plane without altering the NA, typically delivering 5X or better spectral resolution than is achievable with a conventional design. This approach works equally well in DMD-based programmable light sources as in single stage spectrometers. Assuming a 5X improvement in étendue, a 500 W source can be replaced by a 100 W equivalent, creating a cooler, more efficient tunable light source with equal power density over the desired bandwidth without compromising output power.