Thermo Fisher Scientific, a maker of charge injection device (Cidtec) technology-based imagers and cameras, is introducing its SpectraCAM line of 16-bit digital scientific imaging systems designed for spectroscopy and scientific markets.
The cameras feature benefits not available with CCD systems including low noise, arbitrary pixel selection, readout, inherent antiblooming, ultraviolet sensitivity and collective read.
The SpectraCAM platform is available in either 540(H) by 540(V) or 1024(H) by 1024(V) with 27-µ pixels, or a new 2048 x 2048 version with 12-µ square pixels.
When used with RACID exposure software, the SpectraCAM automatically varies exposure time from pixel to pixel based on real-time observation of signal intensity, automatically optimizing signal-to-noise ratio for each unique image feature. Intensely illuminated pixels receive numerous short integration cycles, while weakly illuminated pixels integrate for longer periods. This proprietary technique, called “random access integration,” allows for unprecedented linear dynamic range exceeding eight orders of magnitude, or 28 bits, using a single exposure period.
The CID cameras’ antiblooming performance ensures accurate image detail under extreme lighting conditions. The RACID imagers used in the SpectraCAM are cooled with a three-stage thermoelectric cooling system to reduce dark current, and are available in two configurations for imager containment: The Purged SpectraCAM is commonly used in applications where argon or nitrogen gas is readily available, and the Sealed SpectraCAM uses a hermetically sealed imager container designed to maintain high vacuum, eliminating purge requirements.
The 16-bit gray-level camera controller is based on Pentium architecture with an Ethernet host-controller communications link. The controller allows for data acquisition algorithms with dynamic exposure-time control of user-specified regions of interest and real-time video processing of acquired data. The camera software also supports the export of data in various imaging and spreadsheet formats. In addition to programmable position and size, each ROI may be individually programmed for pixel collective read (or binning) and nondestructive reads per pixel.
http://www.photonics.com/content/tradeshows/2007/July/20/88413.aspx
