CCD Tube Intensifies Low-Light-Level Images

Image quality superior to that obtained with an ICCD is the promise made for N7220, an electron bombardment CCD tube targeted at low-light-level imaging applications. Said to deliver unparalleled image intensification and a high signal-to-noise ratio, the special tube responds to incident light by emitting electrons, accelerating them in an electric field, and then focusing (bombarding) them onto a full-frame-transfer CCD to increase image intensity by up to 600 times. N7220's CCD has a 24 x 24 µm pixel size, 512 x 512 pixel count, readout noise spec of 50 e_RMS at 150 Hz and 0°C, and a readout frequency as high as 1 MHz. N7220 can also be used in photon counting applications by cooling the tube.