New High Sensitivity TDI Back Thinned CCD Devices for High Speed Imaging Applications

Hamamatsu Photonics introduce the new S10200 TDI (time delay integration) sensor, featuring the latest high speed, high sensitivity, back thinned CCD image sensors. The newly developed Hamamatsu CCD sensors have an option for 1024, 2048 or 4096 pixel length by 128 pixel height, 90% peak quantum efficiency to visible light, with high UV and near IR sensitivity. The S10200 series offer very high-speed data readout of 30 MHz per pixel, which translates to 50 KHz or 100 KHz line rates, depending on the sensor.

Ordinarily high-speed imaging systems suffer from a lack of available light and special illumination systems need to be constructed. Using the TDI image acquisition method however, the S10200 can synchronise charge transfer with the moving object, thus giving 128 times the image integration time of a conventional line sensor, and when combined with the high sensitivity of the back thinned CCD chip this results in an output two or three orders of magnitude greater compared to a regular line scan camera.