Optical design and fabrication of a three-channel common-aperture multispectral polarization camera

The ability to detect and recognize the low-contrast and distance targets in a complex environment is of great importance for many applications. However, one or two single spectral channel imaging cannot obtain adequate information. This study reports the design and construction of a common-aperture multispectral polarization imaging system, which can simultaneously obtain visible, short-wave infrared and mid-wave infrared wavebands. Such a system enables the acquirement of spatial, polarization and multispectral information of distance targets simultaneously. The experimental set-up is built to verify the basic principle of the device. The device is used to image optical resolution targets and the car at different times and distances in several complex backgrounds. The generated images are fused by polarization using image processing. The results indicate that the system performs well for imaging low-contrast objects in each waveband.