JWST NIRCam offers 29 bandpass filters in the short wavelength (0.6–2.3 μm) and long wavelength (2.4–5.0 μm) channels.

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Each of the 2 NIRCam modules carries a nearly identical set of 29 filters. Most filters are located in the filter wheel and are used in combination with pupil wheel elements including CLEAR, grisms, coronagraph Lyot stops, and weak lenses.

The 6 filters located in the pupil wheels (F162M, F164N, F323N, F405N, F466N, and F470N) include their individual pupil aperture stops and are used in combination with a second filter in the filter wheel (F150W2, F322W2, or F444W) because the filter wheels contain no CLEAR elements.

Filter transmissions

Filter transmissions (including all system throughputs) are plotted in Figures 1 and 2; ASCII tables are also provided.

Throughputs vary somewhat between the detectors due to differences in detector quantum efficiencies. Total throughputs are shown in Figures 1 and 2. Figure 1 shows the throughput averaged over all detectors, while Figure 2 shows the throughputs for each detector separately, as well as averaged across all detectors.

Table 1. Numbers of extra-wide, wide, medium, and narrow filters in each wavelength channel

Filters	R = λ/Δλ	Short wavelength channel (0.6–2.3 μm) Number of filters	Long wavelength channel (2.4–5.0 μm) Number of filters
All	~1–92	13	16
Extra-wide	~1–2	1	1
Wide	~4–5	5	3
Medium	~8–20	4	8
Narrow	~78–92	3	4

*Click on the figure for a larger view.*
Total system throughput for each NIRCam filter, including contributions from the JWST Optical Telescope Element (OTE), NIRCam optical train, dichroics, filters, and detector quantum efficiency (QE). Throughput refers to photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. Averages across all detectors are plotted. The vertical gray bar marks the approximate dichroic cutoff between the short and long wavelength channels. Filters marked "P" are located in the pupil wheel, requiring transmission through a second filter in the filter wheel, either F150W2, F322W2, or F444W. In these cases, the combined transmissions are plotted. (Figure version 6.0: May 16, 2024)

*Click on the figure for a larger view.*
System throughput for each of the NIRCam filters shown in Figure 1 (with the same colors). In this case the throughput for each detector is shown for each filter, as a series of lines of the same color. Plots with a black outline correspond to the mean throughput across all detectors, identical to what is shown in Figure 1. (Version 6.0 data)

Filter lists

Download all JWST + NIRCam throughput curves (version 6.0: May 2024): (tar.gz) (zip)

The JWST + NIRCam throughput curves archive file contains:

Both data (ASCII) and plots (PDF);
For each filter, throughput curves for each detector as well the average across detectors;

Detector-averaged total system transmission curves for all filters are available via the links in column 1 of Tables 2 and 3.

Tables 2 and 3. Characteristics of mean throughputs in the short and long wavelength channels

Short wavelength channel (0.6–2.3 µm)

Filter (module- average)	Pivot^* λ (µm)	BW^† Δλ (µm)	Effective^‡ response	Blue^§λ_- (µm)	Red^§ λ₊ (µm)	Use
F070W	0.704	0.130	0.235	0.623	0.781	General purpose
F090W	0.903	0.193	0.306	0.795	1.005	General purpose
F115W	1.154	0.225	0.328	1.013	1.282	General purpose
F140M	1.405	0.141	0.420	1.331	1.479	Cool stars, H2O, CH4
F150W	1.501	0.317	0.457	1.331	1.668	General purpose
F162M	1.627	0.168	0.457	1.542	1.713	Cool Stars, off-band for H2O
F164N	1.645	0.020	0.339	1.635	1.653	[FeII]
F150W2	1.687	1.222	0.442	1.006	2.38	Blocking filter for F162M, F164N, and DHS
F182M	1.845	0.238	0.484	1.722	1.968	Cool stars, H2O, CH4
F187N	1.874	0.024	0.370	1.863	1.885	Pa-alpha
F200W	1.988	0.463	0.506	1.755	2.228	General purpose
F210M	2.096	0.205	0.503	1.992	2.201	H2O, CH4
F212N	2.121	0.027	0.358	2.109	2.134	H2

Long wavelength channel (2.4–5.0 µm)

Filter (module- average)	Pivot^* λ (µm)	BW^† Δλ (µm)	Effective‡ response	Blue^§ λ_- (µm)	Red^§ λ₊ (µm)	Use
F250M	2.503	0.181	0.399	2.412	2.595	CH4, continuum
F277W	2.776	0.673	0.439	2.422	3.131	General purpose
F300M	2.996	0.318	0.448	2.831	3.157	Water ice
F322W2	3.247	1.340	0.502	2.433	4.013	Background min. Primarily used w/ grisms. Blocking filter for F323N.
F323N	3.237	0.038	0.303	3.217	3.255	H2
F335M	3.362	0.347	0.499	3.177	3.537	PAH, CH4
F356W	3.566	0.786	0.539	3.136	3.981	General purpose
F360M	3.623	0.372	0.502	3.426	3.814	Brown dwarfs, planets, continuum
F405N	4.053	0.046	0.378	4.030	4.076	Br-alpha
F410M	4.083	0.436	0.511	3.866	4.302	Brown dwarfs, planets, H2O, CH4
F430M	4.281	0.228	0.504	4.167	4.398	CO2, N2
F444W	4.401	1.023	0.523	3.880	4.981	General purpose. Blocking filter for F405N, F466N, F470N.
F460M	4.630	0.228	0.447	4.515	4.748	CO
F466N	4.654	0.054	0.320	4.629	4.681	CO
F470N	4.708	0.051	0.305	4.683	4.733	H2
F480M	4.814	0.299	0.427	4.662	4.963	Brown dwarfs, planets, continuum

Table notes:

All values are based on commissioning flight data.

Linked throughput tables include the effects of the JWST OTE as well as all NIRCam optics and detector QE.

^* The pivot wavelength satisfies the equation $\begin{array}{l}F_\lambda \lambda_{pivot}^2 = F_\nu c\end{array}$ , relating the flux measured in wavelength versus frequency units ( $\begin{array}{l}F_\lambda d \lambda = F_\nu d \nu\end{array}$ ). It is calculated as $\begin{array}{l}\lambda_{pivot} = \sqrt{\frac{\int d\lambda T \lambda}{\int d\lambda T / \lambda}}\end{array}$ , where $\begin{array}{l}T\end{array}$ is the transmission. See Tokunaga & Vacca 2005.

^† Bandwidth is the integral of the normalized transmission curve: $\begin{array}{l}BW = \frac{\int d\lambda T}{T_{max}}\end{array}$ . See equation 1 in appendix E of Rieke, G. H. et al. 2008.

^‡ Effective response is the mean transmission value over the wavelength range of $\begin{array}{l}\lambda_{pivot} \pm BW ~ / ~ 2\end{array}$ .

^§ The half power wavelengths of a passband are the wavelengths at which the transmission falls to 50% of its peak value.

References

Rieke, G. H., Blaylock, M., Decin, L., et al. 2008, AJ, 135, 2245
Absolute Physical Calibration in the Infrared

Tokunaga, A. T., & Vacca, W. D., 2005, PASP, 117, 421
The Mauna Kea Observatories Near-Infrared Filter Set. III. Isophotal Wavelengths and Absolute Calibration

Notable updates	30 May 2024 Updated throughput curves, figures, and table values with latest results 25 Nov 2022 Updated throughputs in tables and figures using in-flight data
Originally published	29 Nov 2017

JWST User Documentation

NIRCam Filters

Filter transmissions

Filter lists

References