Performance comparison of aperture codes for multimodal, multiplex spectroscopy

We experimentally evaluate diverse static independent column codes in a coded aperture spectrometer. The performance of each code is evaluated based on the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), defined as the peak value in the spectrum to the standard deviation of the background noise, as a function of subpixel vertical misalignments. Among the code families tested, an S-matrix-based code produces spectral reconstructions with the highest SNR. The SNR is least sensitive to vertical subpixel misalignments on the detector with a Hadamard-matrix-based code. Finally, the increased sensitivity of a spectrometer using a coded aperture instead of a slit is demonstrated. (c) 2007 Optical Society of America.