Patent ID: 7330268

Claim:
An apparatus for obtaining a monochrome sample image in a spectral imaging system that includes an interferometer, comprising: a sample; a source for illuminating said sample with radiation within a first band of wavelengths, wherein said first band of wavelengths excites regions within said sample causing said regions to emit radiation within a second band of wavelengths; an interferometer for spectrally resolving said wavelengths within said second band of wavelengths, wherein said interferometer creates an interferogram of said sample that is superimposed on an image of said sample transmitted by said interferometer, wherein said interferometer is comprised of at least a pair of turning mirrors and a beam splitter forming a pair of legs for said interferometer; a detector array, wherein said sample and said interferogram of said sample are imaged on said detector, wherein said detector array outputs a plurality of signals corresponding to an intensity at each pixel of said array; an optic with a first position and a second position, wherein said optic in said first position is adjacent to one of said pair of turning mirrors and intercepts light beams within said interferometer passing to and from said one of said pair of turning mirrors thereby producing a large offset in said pair of legs of said interferometer, wherein said optic in said second position does not intercept light beams within said interferometer, wherein said large offset causes a density of fringes created within said interferogram to become larger than the resolution limits of said detector array; and a processor coupled to said detector array, wherein said processor generates said monochrome image of said sample from said output signals of said detector array when said optic is in said first position.