Characterization results of EMCCDs for extreme low-light imaging (original) (raw)
2012, High Energy, Optical, and Infrared Detectors for Astronomy V
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Electron Multiplying CCDs - New Technology for Low Light Level Imaging
Low light level imaging has been revolutionised in recent years with the introduction of Electron Multiply- ing Charge Coupled Devices (EMCCDs). The performance of conventional CCDs has always been limited by readout noise, inherent in the output amplifier of the device. In order to minimise this, the readout speed has to be relatively slow, typically taking several seconds to read the image. EMCCDs incorporate an additional gain register through which the sig- nal passes as it is read out of the CCD array. Because the signal is amplified prior to readout, the signal-to-noise ratio is much improved and the restriction of slow readout times is also lifted. In spite of the promised improvements in per- formance, they have been received by the scientific commu- nity with a certain amount of caution. The advantages of EMCCDs, compared to earlier generations of imagers, are described and the specific issues relating to their operation are discussed
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