Section 6: Emccd Model Information; Emccd Technology; R Eadout S Equence Of An Emccd - Oxford Instruments ANDOR Newton CCD Hardware Manual

Newton

SECTION 6: EMCCD MODEL INFORMATION

6.1 eMccd t
ecHnology
Advances in sensor technology have led to the development on a new generations of sensor such as the ultra-
sensitive, low light EMCCDs from in Andor Newton and iXon cameras. At the heart of your Newton detector is a
Electron Multiplying Charged Coupled Device (EMCCD) - capable of single photon detection. An EMCCD is a
silicon-based semiconductor chip bearing a two-dimensional matrix of photo-sensors or pixels.
This matrix is usually referred to as the image area. The pixels are often described as being arranged in rows and
columns, the rows running horizontally and the columns vertically.
The EMCCD in the Newton detector is identical in structure to a conventional CCD but with the shift register
extended to include an additional section, the Multiplication (or Gain) Register as shown in the figure below:
Figure 4: Typial EMCCD structure
6.1.1 R s eMccd
eadoUt eqUence of an
In the course of readout, charge is moved vertically into the shift register, and then horizontally from the shift register
into the output node of the amplifier. The simple readout sequence illustrated below (which corresponds to the
default setting of the Full Resolution Image binning pattern) allows data to be recorded for each individual element
on the EMCCD-chip. Other binning patterns are achieved by summing charge in the shift register and/or the output
node prior to readout.
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Version 1.4 rev 13 Oct 2017