Patent ID: 7038789

Claim:
A system to detect a chemical analyte in a surrounding panorama in a passive interferometer mode and to broadcast information concerning the analyte in an active photopolarimeter mode, comprising: an optical collector that collects middle infrared radiation from a surrounding panorama; a collimator that collimates the middle infrared radiation from the optical collector; an interferometer comprised of a plurality of birefringent photoelastic modulators that modulate the collimated middle infrared radiance at a plurality of modulation frequencies to provide a plurality of interferograms of said collected radiance, wherein said plurality of photoelastic modulators comprises at least two end photoelastic modulators and a middle photoelastic modulator; an imager that focuses the collected, collimated, and modulated radiance into an image; a focal plane array that converts the image into a plurality of interferograms, or time-varying signals, mapped to coordinates in the surrounding panorama; a spectrum analyzer that converts the plurality of interferograms, or time varying signals, into a plurality of spectra; a processor that analyzes the plurality of spectra and provides detection data corresponding to a chemical analyte, and a solid-state photopolarimeter comprising a carrier laser beam directed back through the plurality of birefringent photoelastic modulators, collimator, and collector, and dispersed throughout the panorama, and wherein broadcasting information is cast into the panorama via an active photopolarimeter mode wherein said middle birefringent photoelastic modulator is driven to encode the carrier laser beam to alternate half-waveplate and quarter-waveplate states such that information comprising the detection data is encrypted and broadcast omnidirectionally.