Wavelength calibration of a tunable spatial heterodyne spectrometer

Abstract

Spatial Heterodyne Spectroscopy (SHS) is a relatively novel interferometric technique similar to Fourier transform spectroscopy and shares design similarities with a Michelson Interferometer. An Imaging detector is used at the output of a SHS to record the spatially heterodyned interference pattern. The spectrum of the source is obtained by Fourier transforming the recorded interferogram. The merits of the SHS -its design, including the lack of moving parts, compactness, high throughput, high SNR and instantaneous spectral measurements - makes it suitable for space as well as ground observatories. The small bandwidth limitation of the SHS can be overcome by building it in tunable configuration (Tunable Spatial Heterodyne Spectrometer(TSHS)). In this paper, we describe the wavelength calibration of the tunable SHS using a Halogen lamp and Andor monochromator setup. We found a relation between the fringe frequency and the wavelength.