Details
The Alta Design Team at Apogee worked hard over a two year period to bring this advanced degree of integration and performance to the astronomy market. Alta has set new standards for imaging performance, connectivity, cooling, compactness, cost effectiveness, and the elimination of external support electronics. Like the AP and KX series, Alta is a platform, not a CCD or specific interface type. It is designed for a variety of CCDs, ranging from the smallest to those measuring 36mm on a side with 4096 x 4096 arrays.
So many improvements in such a small package: No more external controllers, plug-in cards, or frame grabbers. Dual digitization for high precision plus high speed focus. On-board camera memory for fast local sequences and no worries about transfer interruptions. Time delayed integration for imaging far beyond the size of the sensor. A single 12V power input for optional battery-powered operation. In addition, the Apogee Alta U Series cameras have dual digitization, 12 and 16 bit. The 12 bit mode is intended primarily as a focus mode.
Alta U Series cameras are available with a wide variety of sensors, including: Back-illuminated sensors with very high quantum efficiency, some with sensitivity in the deep UV; Interline transfer sensors with fast electronic shuttering and inherent anti-blooming; front-illuminated CCDs with high sensitivity in the near-IR without etaloning. In general, the larger the pixel size, the higher the dynamic range. Smaller pixels (about 7 microns) are typically used for microscopy (U32; U2000; U4000); larger pixels and larger arrays are typically used for astronomy (U42, U47 back-illuminated; U16M, U9000, U6 front-illuminated).
Apogee Alta Scientific Imaging Systems means you'll get High Speed, low noise, 16/12 bit dual digitization to 7 MHz, TEC cooling to >75C. Lifetime warranty on CCD chamber seal. Fast USB 2.0 advanced I/O control. The Apogee Alta imaging systems represent cost effective advanced imaging technology not found anywhere else. The Alta platform currently supports 11 different housing configurations, including high cooling, wide entrance angle, and low profile variants, many with a choice of fans or liquid circulation.
Apogee Alta U47-MB Highlights
- 1024 x 1024 array, 13 x 13 micron pixels
- 2 MHz 12-bit and 700 kHz 16-bit digitization
- 32Mbyte camera memory
- USB 2.0 interface: no plug in cards or external controllers
- Programmable, intelligent cooling to 50-55C below ambient (D02 housing) / 65-70C below ambient (D09 housing)
- Binning up to 10 Horizontal x 1024 Vertical
- Subarray readout and fast sequencing modes
- Precision time delayed integration readout
- Programmable fan speed for low / zero vibration
- Two serial port outputs for control of peripheral devices
- General purpose programmable I/O port
- External triggering and strobe controls
- ActiveX drivers included with every system (other software sold separately)
- Field upgradeable firmware
- Fused silica windows
- Runs from single 12V supply with input voltage monitor
- Compact enclosure
- Programmable status indicators
About E2V Technologies CCD Array
E2V is a leading CCD supplier, delivering high sensitivity imaging devices through very low read noise output amplifiers and the use of back-illumination for high quantum efficiency. e2v also delivers high speed and high resolution devices through the use of multi-polysilicon and multi-metal level technology. Partial customisation and full custom CCD design and manufacturing services are available, to optimally match device characteristics to system performance.
Pixel Size - The selection of pixel size is a balance between basic performance parameters. Smaller pixels will give increased resolution, assuming that resolution is not limited elsewhere in the system. As the pixel size decreases, well capacity (the amount of charge that can be stored in a pixel) and the overall dynamic range decrease. As well as having a higher dynamic range, larger pixels gather more photons and hence may improve overall system sensitivity in light-starved applications. However, larger pixels also accumulate more dark current per pixel and a lower operating temperature may be necessary to offset this effect.
Number of Pixels - This is determined by the active area and the pixel size. The number of pixels required for a given application may be limited by the readout time needed. Increasing the readout frequency will increase the read noise and may limit low signal performance. By reading out through multiple outputs, the frequency per output and hence the read noise may be reduced while maintaining the readout time.
Output Amplifier Type - Several different types of output amplifier designs are used on e2v CCDs. The Very Low Noise (VLN) amplifier is optimised for the lowest possible read noise performance at slow scan speeds. The VLN amplifier can have a noise floor as low as 2 electrons. The Large Signal (LS) amplifier is optimised for high output node capacity to maximise dynamic range at slow scan speeds. It typically has a somewhat higher noise floor than the VLN amplifier. The High Speed (HS) amplifier is optimised for low noise at speeds of 10 MHz or higher. Very high speed amplifiers are also used for 40 MHz data rate. The dental CCDs use a moderate speed output amplifier with an integral sample and hold (S+H) to minimise the drive circuitry needed outside the CCD and to drive the long connection cable. The L3Vision devices utilise a HS amplifier and a unique gain register that multiplies signal electrons, allowing signals to be read at high speeds with our effective total noise (including CCD44-82 amplifier noise) less than 1 electron.
The enhanced process in combination with e2v’s AIMO (Advanced Inverted Mode Operation) device design is only available on smaller sensors so that high row shift rates may be maintained. Larger sensors are available with the enhanced process, but only of the NIMO (Non-IMO) type. Back-thinned devices are supplied with an anti-reflection coating, optimised for a particular wavelength, as shown in the Quantum Efficiency (QE) curves. Not all coatings are available for all types of chip, except to special order. Other coatings are available upon request.
TDI (Time Delay Integration) - TDI architectures have been developed with multi-output features to improve signal-to-noise ratio, especially for high speed and high resolution applications.
TE Cooled Package - E2V offers an integral thermo-electric (TE) cooled package option for several devices. The solid-state TE (or Peltier effect) cooler can cool the device up to 40° Celsius below ambient temperature. The package has a 36-pin DIL (dual in line) format with a sealed window - a good option where space is at a premium and moderate cooling is required.
Anti-Blooming - Anti-blooming is a device feature that removes excess charge from a CCD when it is overexposed. This feature is essential in TV devices where the light level is not well controlled. Anti-blooming reduces the well capacity and is therefore not normally used in scientific devices. Depending on device design, anti-blooming may be either fixed or gated. Fixed anti-blooming is easier to operate, but is inflexible since overexposure handling and well capacity are fixed by design. Gated anti-blooming may be set to operate at a given level of charge and may also be used to clear charge from a device prior to image exposure. Antiblooming is not currently available with the IMO or AIMO option, except on select L3Vision sensors.
IMO (Inverted Mode Operation) - IMO (also known as MPP or multi-phase pinned) devices have a modified structure which, when used in conjunction with the correct clock sequence and operating voltages, reduce dark current by a factor of at least 100. The reduction is due to suppression of dark current generated at the silicon–gate insulator interface. However, this reduction in dark current is at the expense of a reduction in well capacity. e2v’s advanced IMO (AIMO) structure maximises this loss in well capacity to typically 66% of that of a standard mode device (depending on pixel size). IMO or AIMO devices are generally used when medium to long integration times are required at high to medium temperatures, typically in systems with no cooler or a thermo-electric (TE) cooler. IMO and AIMO devices are not currently available with deep depleted or anti-blooming options (except on select L3Vision sensors).
Back-Thinning - This is the process by which a front-illuminated CCD is mounted upside down on a support substrate and the bulk silicon is removed to allow the incident photons to reach the sensitive pixel wells unimpeded by intervening gate structures and insulators. Back-thinned devices have much higher quantum efficiency than standard (front illuminated) devices. At UV and soft X-ray wavelengths, back-thinning will provide the highest quantum efficiency of any technology available today. Back-thinned devices are generally used in light-starved applications where a high signal to noise ratio is needed at very low light levels. Back-thinned devices are available with either the basic thinning process or for better UV quantum efficiency the enhanced (or “astro”) process. For most applications, the basic process is the best type to use, and combines the highest quantum efficiency with the lowest cost.
Lumogen Coating - Lumogen is a coating that absorbs ultraviolet (UV) light and re-emits a proportional amount of visible light that can be detected by front-illuminated CCDs. Lumogen may be used as an alternative to back-thinning or open electrode structures where UV sensitivity is required but quantum efficiency is not critical.
E2V Technologies CCD Features
- Device active areas: Largest to date 123mm x 46mm - In principle up to 92 mm x 92 mm
- Full-frame, frame transfer, split frame transfer architectures
- Specialized readout register options with thinning and back-illumination a standard production process
- 6-inch CCD wafer production with two-, three- and four-phase CCDs
- Defined or supplementary buried channel and bi-directional gate protection structures
- On-chip light shields and open electrode structures
- Advanced inverted mode operation (also called MPP) for low, dark current
- Anti-blooming options: fixed or gated barrier and shielded drain
- Radiation hardened process, amplifier read noise <2e- and pixel rate up to 40 MHz per amplifier
- Package and test capabilities include wafer dicing, die etch, wire bonding, fibre-optic coupling and multi-chip focal plane arrays
- Customer-specific encapsulation and output connections - optional scintillator, spectral bandpass / optimisation and anti-reflective coating
- Cryogenic, thermoelectric, vacuum and room temperature testing and full range of in-house environmental testing and screening
Additional Information
| Model | U47 |
|---|---|
| Weight | 2.0000 |
