Patent ID: 7262846

Claim:
An encoder spectrograph for encoding and detecting one or more spectral components of a radiation beam, the encoder spectrograph comprising: a concave diffraction grating that disperses a received incident beam of radiation by wavelength; a crossover focusing reflector that redirects the dispersed beam across the incident beam to form an image dispersed by wavelength along a dispersion axis; a spatial light modulator positioned to receive the dispersed image on a surface thereof, the spatial light modulator modulating the intensity of the dispersed image by a position along the dispersion axis to provide an encoded beam; a crossover fast collection optic that collects the encoded beam from the spatial light modulator and redirects the encoded beam across the dispersed beam; a detector lens that focuses the encoded beam to form a substantially overlapping image; and a detector element positioned to receive the overlapping image and produce a signal representative of the encoded beam.