EMCCD Technology News

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

iXon EMCCD Camera Some 'recent technology breakthroughs' in EMCCD technology are eerily familiar to innovations that Andor have had in place for quite some time!

For example:

  • Andor's ‘Baseline Clamp' is a function that has been selectable in our software for some years now and gives a rock-solid baseline during kinetic series! It also keeps the baseline clamped rigid even when EM gain is changed.
  • Andor have had very fine nanosecond resolution (through vernier control) over our clocking parameters for several years and are well aware of the important such control is for reducing CIC noise.

However what has been overlooked by some, is that there is also a direct link between pushing vertical clocks faster and achieving lower CIC – Andor can easily prove this in demo using software-selectable clock speeds down to 0.3 microseconds for the 512x512 back-illuminated sensor. Also, due to our faster vertical speeds we offer the fastest frame rates on the market, significantly so when binning/sub-array combinations are used – just check out the tables in the spec sheets. Full story

New EMCCD Spectroscopy Cameras Announced

Newton Spectroscopy EMCCD Camera Andor Technology, pioneers of Electron Multiplying (EM) CCD technology, today announce the launch of the world's first Spectroscopy EMCCD camera, the Andor Newton. The Newton is a new type of camera enabling faster detection, ultimate sensitivity and speed for more accurate spectroscopy results. It is the world's most sensitive UV to NIR spectroscopic detector ever, without any compromises and offers single photon sensitivity for spectroscopists. Full story

ICCDs edge out electron-multiplying CCDs in low light? (We don’t think so!)

A recent article has been published in Laser Focus World in September 2004 by David Dussault and Paul Hoess which claims that EMCCDs perform better than ICCDs only at light levels above those that require cooling or slow scan. Andor Technology, as the pioneers of EMCCD technology would like to set the record straight. Full story