Abstract

An opto-electronic interferogram processor for real-time FT-IR spectroscopy is presented which leads to an enhanced SNR efficiency by eliminating the serial scanning and free-space me­chanical aberrations associated with the frequently used Michelson interferometer. The parallel interferogram processor consists of an array of properly balanced Mach-Zehnders which can be conveniently integrated with electronic digital processing for improved performance high SNR spectroscopy applications. Design analysis is given and a near infrared example is detailed.

© 1989 Optical Society of America