EMCCD Tutorial

Q3 In practice, how is EM gain applied to multiply the signal?

The gain of an EMCCD detector is readily tunable in real time via the software interface. This control directly allows the user to increase the voltages between the phases within the pixels of the gain register. This results in multiplication of the signal through the ‘impact ionization’ process. The user can control the amount of EM gain in real time and use it to boost the incoming signal until it is sufficiently clear of the read noise floor of the detector.