PixCellent provides camera heads for use with its cooled CCD camera systems that are
designed to give the ultimate in photon counting performance by providing
cooling to very low temperatures.
Each type of camera head consists of a CCD, cooled by liquid nitrogen. The
electron multiplying CCDs used by
PixCellent Imaging Limited are all frame
transfer devices and so do not need a mechanical shutter in front of them.. The camera heads
provided with fixing holes to enable them to be attached to the user's
Experimental setup.
The CCDs used in PixCellent's systems
are cooled in order to reduce the amount of thermally generated
dark current. Accumulation of dark current severely limits the
performance of an uncooled system. By lowering the temperature
of the CCD, the dark current is reduced by a factor of about 10
for every 20C drop in CCD temperature. Consequently, sensitivity
and dynamic range are greatly extended. Cooling to below about -120C gives no
further advantage in terms of dark current and can reduce the far red
sensitivity of the CCD.
Liquid nitrogen cooled heads offer the ultimate performance in terms of sensitivity and dynamic range. Dark current from the chip is reduced to levels of only a few electrons per pixel per hour in some cases by cooling the CCD to approximately -120C. The liquid nitrogen cooled heads contain a CCD mounted in a vacuum-sealed housing to minimise heat loss. The CCD is connected by a cold "finger" to a container filled with liquid nitrogen. This effectively cools the CCD to a user selectable and accurately stabilised temperature from -60C to -120C., reducing dark current to the absolute minimum. Periodic re-filling with liquid nitrogen is necessary and the heads may require occasionalre-pumping with a rotary/diffusion or turbo vacuum pump, depending on usage. The liquid-nitrogen heads we use have been designed for applications where space is limited and may be used in a sideways as well as a downward looking configuration. Additional fill tube inserts are available to allow inverted operation (with slightly reduced liquid nitrogen hold times). Drawing is available here.
| High Performance LN Head | ||
| Cooling method | Liquid nitrogen | |
| Dark counts with standard CCD | 10 electron/pixel/hour at -120C | |
| Weight (kg) | 4.2 (empty) plus maximum of 1.0 for a full liquid nitrogen fill. | |
| Height x Diameter (mm) | 267mm long (body) plus >120 mm for LN fill access , front plate 122 mm diameter. Side access for electrical connectors and for re-pumping. Rear access space required for re-pumping and re-filling of the Dewar | |
| Optical distance of CCD from front face (mm) | 8.0 mm | |
| Mounting points available on front face | C-mount, K-mount. Other mounts can be provided on request. | |
| Mounting points available on side of head | 12 holes on circle on shutter plate | |
| Nominal CCD temperature | -60C. to -120C. |