Glossary

Acquisition without exposure in order to generate an image of electronic noise only, as opposed to total background noise which includes charge accumulation due to dark current

Acquisition mode grouping adjacent pixels during readout. The larger resulting pixels collect more light per unit and their lesser number allows higher acquisition speeds.

A sensor type with an increased detection efficiency (QE) for blue & UV wavelengths. Recommended for measurements from 200-450 nm.

CCD Controller for Counting Photons, the patented technology that allows an EMCCD to operate faster and more reliably for low light applications

Charge-coupled device based on a silicon semiconductor to convert photons in measurable electric signal

Clock-induced charges, the main noise source in EMCCD cameras in photon counting

Acquisition mode where exposure is restricted to a smaller region of interest and the rest of the detector shielded to be used as a storage area. This allows minimal line transfers after exposure instead of complete frame transfer and results in very fast acquisition rates.

Charge transfer efficiency, the fraction of electrons displaced between adjacent pixels during the read-out process

A noise source in the form of current resulting of the thermal agitation of atoms that make up the detector

Images without signal. Used to evaluate a camera's noise profile under specific acquisition conditions

Electron-multiplying gain, an amplification parameter used in EMCCDs to obtain less than 1 ē of effective read-out noise

Electron-multiplying CCD, a CCD designed with an extra register for photoelectron amplification by an avalanche effect

Excess noise factor, a consequence of the stochastic nature of the gain in both EMCCDs and ICCDs that decreases SNR

Acquisition mode where exposures are conducted consecutively several times with minimal line transfer before readout. This enables bursts of images with short exposure times and low latency between successive exposures.

Intensified charge-coupled device

Inverted mode operation, a method of driving the EMCCD detector that minimizes dark current at the expense of increased CIC

Processing mode where EMCCD camera images are generated linearly in response to incoming light

EMCCD detector optimized for a wide range of visible imaging spanning from near-ultraviolet into near-infrared

Lines per second

A UV conversion coating added to a camera sensor. The Lumogen coating absorbs UV light and re-emits it at higher wavelengths, increasing the camera’s detection efficiency (QE) for UV wavelengths from 200-350 nm.

EMCCD detector optimized for visible imaging with a higher sensitivity to blue and red light

Multiple region of interest

Non-inverted mode operation, a method of driving the EMCCD detector that minimizes CIC at the expense of increased dark current

Electron generated in a detector pixel as a result of an incoming photon

Processing mode where the ENF of the EMCCD camera is eliminated by non-linear image generation

Quantum efficiency, the fraction of incoming photons that are successfully converted into photoelectrons

Region of Interest

Software development kit

Noise resulting from the Poisson distribution of the generation process of particles such as photons and electrons

Signal-to-noise ratio

Time Delay Integration, acquisition mode to capture images of moving objects at very low light levels

Noise resulting from the shot noise of the dark current

Ultra Violet