Phosphor Decay Time; Temperature Control; Cooling Method; Figure 8. Phosphor Decay Time - Princeton Instruments PI-MAX 3 System Manual

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Phosphor Decay Time

The WinX application allows you to enter a delay between the end of the exposure time
and the beginning of the array readout. This time is inserted to allow the phosphor to
decay to 1% before readout occurs and will vary depending on the phosphor type.

Temperature Control

Under normal conditions, the front end of the camera is sealed and backfilled so there
WARNING
is no danger of damage due to condensation.

Cooling Method

Cooling the CCD array reduces the amount of dark charge, thereby acting to improve the
signal-to-noise ratio. An internal Peltier device directly cools the cold finger on which the
CCD is mounted. The heat produced by the Peltier device is then removed by the air drawn
into the camera by the internal fans and exhausted through the side-panel grill. The fans are
always running and cooling the CCD and the internal electronics. Additional heat removal
can be performed by circulating coolant through an internal heat block.
Air-cooling: With air-cooling alone, at an ambient temperature of 25C, temperature
lock at -25 should typically take ten to twenty minutes. Cooling performance is
affected by the CCD array being used (i.e., larger arrays may take longer to cool than
smaller arrays). Also, if the lab is particularly warm, achieving temperature lock
might take longer or not be obtainable at all.
Supplemental Circulating Coolant: Allows temperature lock to be achieved more
rapidly than would be required to lock at the same temperature with air-cooling
alone. In addition, it will be possible to achieve temperature lock at lower
temperatures, typically three or four degrees lower than would be possible with air-
cooling alone. Use the Princeton Instruments CoolCUBE
closed circulation system that depends on ambient air-cooling of the circulating
coolant. Unless the laboratory has high humidity, the ambient temperature coolant
should prevent condensation inside the PI-MAX3.
®
PI-MAX 3 System Manual
Enter phosphor
decay time here.

Figure 8. Phosphor Decay Time

Version 1.A
coolant circulator. It is a
II