Spectrometer design approaching the limit

The design limits of grating array spectral sensors are discussed. The limit of a grating spectrometer with respect to the resolution is given by the diffraction limit of the grating. To approach the limit for the visible spectral region the entrance slits should reach a width of 2 μm and larger depending on wavelength and numerical aperture. The detector pixel sizes should be in the same range, which is achieved virtually by the discussed double array arrangement with a transmissive, static slit array and detector array. A number of techniques are applied for optimizing the performance as well as for miniaturization. A sub-pixel imaging including a sub-pixel analysis based on the double array arrangement virtually reduces the detector pixel sizes down to about 20%. To avoid the imaging aberrations the spectra is imaged from different entrance positions by the entrance slit array. The throughput can be increased by using a two dimensional entrance slit array, which includes a multiplex pattern or a fixed adaptive pattern. The design example of a UV-Raman spectral sensor is presented including spectral measurements.