Spectroscopic camera that uses electron multiplying CCD technology
February 2007
Sensors & Transducers
Andor Technology, a world-leading supplier of specialised cameras and spectrographs for scientific applications, recently released the Newton which is the first spectroscopic camera to use electron multiplying CCD (EMCCD) technology. These sensors are manufactured using standard CCD fabrication methods but the unique feature is an electron multiplying structure that is inserted between the end of the shift register and the output amplifier. Similar devices have been patented by both E2V and Texas Instruments. Transferring electrons undergo impact ionisation which as a result generates new electrons and thereby providing multiplication or gain. In many cases this does away with the need to use intensified CCD devices and the EMCCD has been hailed as the new ICCD. What one has in effect with the EMCCD is the equivalent of a solid state image intensifier which does not have the disadvantage of a limited MTBF.
The top-of-the range Newton has a 2048 x 512 array of 13,5 μm pixels and thermoelectric cooling down to -100°C which results in negligible dark current. Versions are also available with other array formats such as 1600 x 200 or 1600 x 400 using 16 μm pixels. This high resolution spectroscopic sensor combined with Andor's low noise electronics delivers quantum efficiencies of up to 95% with multiMHz read out and USB connectivity. The cameras can be purchased with coatings and windows that maximise performance in various spectral regions, such as the visible, 250 nm or 350 nm. The detector itself is sensitive in the 200 to 1100 nm range.
The Newton camera can be interfaced to most standard spectrographs and other standard adaptors include the well-known C-mount and Nikon F-mount. The camera also possesses software selectable outputs for either high responsivity mode (low noise) or high signal mode.
For operation, the Newton requires one of Andor's two software options, these being the Andor MCD or the Andor-SDK-CCD. The former provides rich functionality for data acquisition and processing, while with the latter a DLL driver and software development kit allows individual applications to be created by the user. Andor software is Windows-based and supports all versions from Windows 95 onwards. To handle data transfer rates of 3 MHz a powerful computer with at least 1 GB RAM, 32 MB free hard disk space and preferably Windows 2000 or later is required.
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