Wide-spectrum reconstruction method for a birefringence interference imaging spectrometer

We present a mathematical method used to determine the spectrum detected by a birefringence interference imaging spectrometer (BIIS). The reconstructed spectrum has good precision over a wide spectral range, 0.4-1.0 microm. This method considers the light intensity as a function of wavelength and avoids the fatal error caused by birefringence effect in the conventional Fourier transform method. The experimental interferogram of the BIIS is processed in this new way, and the interference data and reconstructed spectrum are in good agreement, proving this method to be very exact and useful. Application of this method will greatly improve the instrument performance.