IMAGING GROUP ProEM At last… a professional grade EMCCD camera

IMAGING GROUP

ProEM At last…

a professional grade EMCCD camera

IMAGING GROUP

A Physicist's EMCCD camera

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ProEM EMCCD - Performance ♦ Precision ♦ Peace of Mind

• Salient Features• How does it compare?• Application Benefits• More information

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ProEM – a physicist’s EMCCD camera

• Princeton Instruments – the world leader in low light imaging, x-ray and spectroscopy systems

• ProEM – the most advanced EMCCD camera yet!

• Uses a combined 50+ years of engineering expertise and pioneering EMCCD technology

ProEM – the first scientific grade EMCCD camera with GigE data interface

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ProEM – Salient Features

Performance

Precision

Peace of Mind

• Performance– Sensitivity - Single photon

detection capability Based on back illuminated EMCCD technology

– PINSTM -Lowest noise in EM or Non-EM modes

– Deep cooling for low dark current

– High frame rates and advanced readout modesProEM – offers the lowest noise (~3 e- rms) even in non-EM mode

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Performance

Precision

Peace of Mind

• Precision– OptiCALTM – Linear, user

accessible absolute EM gain calibration

– BASE – Bias Active Stability Engine

– Hardware time stamping – precise time resolution

– No vibration (liquid only cooling)

– Built-in shutter for accurate dark reference images

ProEM – mechanical shutter

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Performance

Precision

Peace of Mind

• Peace of Mind– Lifetime vacuum guarantee

–thanks to all-metal vacuum seals

– Anti-ageing measures to protect EM gain

– Worldwide support and application expertise

ProEM – does not use epoxy based seals that might compromise vacuum longevity

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Sensitivity

• Based on e2v CCD97 and CCD201 back illuminated technology– less than 1 e- rms effective

read noise through impact ionization process

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What is PINSTM?

• Princeton Instruments Noise Suppression technology

• Each readout speed is individually optimized– 100s of combinations of

clock voltages to get the best noise performance

• achieves ~25 e- rms @ 5MHz (EM) and ~3 e- rms @ 100kHzFact: ProEM provides the lowest noise of any EMCCD camera of its kind on the market

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Why do you need low noise in EM mode?

• It is true that the effective read noise in EM mode is <1 e- rms (σR/G) for any EMCCD camera

• But, having lower starting read noise (σR) as in ProEM means– Lower EM gain (G) required

to achieve <1 e- rms read noise

– As a result, minimize EM gain degradation (more on this later)

ProEM – uses as much as 1.7 times lower EM gain compared to other EMCCD cameras on the market to achieve <1 e- rms read noise

Comparing the read noise at 5MHz (EM mode)

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Why slow speed (Non-EM) mode?

• EMCCD is not the best option for all scenarios, for e.g.,– Excesss noise due to EM gain

process. Lower overall SNR.– For steady state (long

integration time) applications, the standard CCD or Non-EM mode offers the best signal-to-noise ratio.

• ProEM offers 100kHz dedicated slow channel– Choose when there is no

stringent requirement on the frame rateProEM – True 2-in-1 camera with best of EMCCD and CCD performance

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CIC – new noise source in EMCCDs

• Clock Induced Charge (CIC)– Electronically generated

due to clock transitions during readout

– Specified as e-/p/sec– Not integration time or

temperature dependent (unlike dark current)

Fact: By optimizing clock voltages and transitions, ProEM achieves CIC as low as 0.005 e-/p/readout

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Deep cooling and vacuum

• Princeton Instruments has delivered 1000s of cameras with all-metal, hermetically sealed vacuum chambers– Proven technology

• Most EMCCD cameras on the market use inferior epoxy seals – Degrade over time – Out-gassing that

compromises vacuum levels

ProEM – guaranteed cooling and vacuum performance for lifetime –only such guarantee in the industry

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Single Vacuum window design

• ProEM uses only one optical window– Highest throughput– Fused silica with custom AR

coating

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Air or Liquid Assisted cooling

• ProEM offers TE (peltier) cooling assisted by– Air (internal fan)– Or liquid (external

circulator)– Or a combination thereof

• Fan can be permanent turned off via software– Best for vibration and heat

sensitive environments (e.g., telescopes, AFMs)Less advanced thermal designs might only allow the fan to be temporarily

turned off causing un reliable operation when extended sequences need to be acquired

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High frame rates

• ProEM delivers high frame rate– Fast, variable vertical shift

time (300ns to 5 usec for 512B)

• “Custom Chip” mode for even higher (2x to 3x) frame rates at reduced ROI

• Kinetics readout mode for usec time resolution

Fact: ProEM like many other PI cameras, offer full suite of readout mode options to achieve high frame rates or temporal resolution

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What is “custom chip” readout?

• In standard ROI (region of interest) readout– Pixels outside the ROI still

need to be discarded– Additional timing overhead

• In “Custom chip”, active number of pixels can be defined in the software– Does not read pixels outside

the active area• But, pixels outside the active

area must be blocked from light to prevent smearing

– No overhead, thus high frame rates

– 2x to 3x compared to standard readout mode)

Frame transfer mask (on chip)

External (custom) mask

for “Custom chip” readout

Fact: “Custom chip” option is standard on all ProEM cameras

Active Area

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What is OptiCALTM?

• Linearized, absolute EM gain calibration– Uses built-in precision light

source– Control EM gain in absolute

steps– User accessible in the field

• No need for external light sources

• Faster than dark current based method– Mimics actual light levels Fact: Every ProEM camera has built-in precision light source for on-demand

real EM gain calibration

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BASETM – Bias Active Stabilization Engine

• Uses overscan pixels (outside the active region) as reference to generate extremely sable reference bias

• Accounts for temperature, speed, and gain changes

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Hardware time stamping

• Camera generates precise clock and encodes each frame or sub-frame with time data– Most accurate for time

resolved photometry– Superior to CPU based low

resolution software clocks

Fact: ProEM offers hardware generated time stamp on each frame for measuring time evolution of a process

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GigE Data Interface

High bandwidth (1000 Mbps or 125MBytes/sec) Cable lengths of greater than 50 meters

Fiber optic extenders available for even greater distancesIdeal for use at telescopes or hazardous environmentsLow cost cables (CAT5e or CAT6) and standard connectors Extendable to future 10GigE (10, 000 Mbps)

Fact: ProEM is the first scientific grade EMCCD camera with Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) interface

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Built-in mechanical shutter

• Standard frame transfer operation does not need require mechanical shutter

• However, a built-in shutter is convenient for– Capturing for dark

reference frames– Protecting sensor from

external debris– For EM gain calibration

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EM gain ageing

• Over time, EM gain degrades– A strong function of

amount of charge that flows through multiplication register

– High gain at higher light levels = more degradation

• ProEM has built-in measures to slow down ageing. – Lowest read noise = low

EM gain required for ProEM– However, users should not

use excessive EM gain in high light conditions

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Additional features

• Triggering• Expose, readout, logic

TTL signals• External shutter drive (in

lieu of internal shutter).

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Configuration

• ProEM comes with everything you need to capture low light right out of the box– Camera head w/built in

shutter and precision light source

– Power supply– GigE card (intel pro/1000)– GigE cable– Trigger cables– Software (optional)Fact: ProEM undergoes the most extensive testing of any camera out of PI

production line

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ProEM No match to it…..

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How does ProEM compare?

Readout speed ProEM Andor iXon

10MHz 50 e- rms 49 e- rms

5MHz (EM) 25 e- rms 42 e- rms

(32 e- rms @ 3MHz)

5MHz (Normal) 12 e- rms Not Available

1MHz (Normal) 7 e- rms (measured on entire image)

6 e- rms (measured only on a single line)

100kHz (Normal) 3 e- rms Not Available

• Read Noise:

Fact: ProEM has better read noise (measurable) even at higher readout speeds. Thanks to the most advanced noise suppression technology

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Cooling performance

• ProEM– All-metal vacuum seals– Guaranteed for life

• Andor iXon– Epoxy seals– Guarantee???

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EM Gain Calibration

• Andor iXon– No built in light

source– Slow process

• ProEM – Uses built-in light source

for absolute, linear EM gain calibration

– Fast. Takes only few seconds.

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Data interface

• Andor iXon– Older PCI technology

with custom frame grabber

– Remote operation cumbersome or not possible

• ProEM– Latest Gigabit Ethernet

(GigE) technology– Remote operation from up

to 50m or beyond (with fiberoptic extenders)

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Other features

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Configuration

• ProEM comes with everything you need to capture low light right out of the box– Camera head w/built in

shutter and precision light source

– Power supply– GigE card (intel pro/1000)– GigE cable– Trigger cables– Software (optional)Fact: ProEM undergoes the most extensive testing of any camera out of PI

production line

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Configuration

• ProEM: 512B ($36,750)• ProEM: 1024B ($53,000)• Options

– AR coating on the vacuum window (VIS-AR, UVAR, NIRAR)

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Schedule

Prelaunch Jan 20, 2009Web Countdown Jan 21, 2009Worldwide launch Jan 26,2009 (Photonics

West)Orders accepted From Jan 26, 2009Deliveries From March 2009

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Resources

• 40-page Product brochure– Everything a customer ever

wanted to know about EMCCDs and more

• Datasheet• Powerpoint presentation

(share it with customers)• Website updates

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Marketing

• Photonics West– Email blast– Panels at the entrance– Flash demos

• Photonics Spectra– Ad in Feb issue

• Web– Countdown – Offer T-shirts

• You!!!

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ProEM Team

Documents

IMAGING GROUP ProEM At last… a professional grade EMCCD camera