Deep-Cooled, 640 x 512 InGaAs Camera Engineered for Advanced
Low-Light NIR/SWIR Applications in Life and Physical Sciences
Press Releases
December 19, 2011
Trenton, New Jersey, December 19, 2011 — Princeton Instruments is pleased to introduce the PIoNIR:640,
the world’s first scientific-grade camera to utilize a deep-cooled InGaAs (indium gallium arsenide) focal plane array.
The PIoNIR™ is specifically designed for use in challenging low-light near infrared (NIR) or shortwave infrared (SWIR)
imaging and spectroscopy applications that require high sensitivity from 0.9 μm to 1.7 μm. PIoNIR applications range from
cutting-edge nanotube fluorescence imaging to photovoltaic (PV) inspection.
“The PIoNIR:640 is a very unique NIR/SWIR camera in today’s market. It combines the advantages of the latest-generation
640 x 512 InGaAs array [peak quantum efficiency: >80%] with thermoelectric cooling [down to -90°C] and low-noise readout
electronics to deliver the highest possible sensitivity in this important wavelength range,” notes Ravi Guntupalli,
product manager for Princeton Instruments’ Imaging Group. “The PIoNIR sets a new performance benchmark, enabling novel
research and industrial applications in diverse life and physical science areas such as semiconductor failure inspection,
singlet oxygen imaging, PL [photoluminescence] imaging of PV materials, NIR fluorescence and absorbance, and deep tissue imaging.”
Previous-generation InGaAs cameras required liquid nitrogen to achieve deep cooling but thanks to state-of-the-art vacuum technology
developed at Princeton Instruments the new PIoNIR:640 reaches temperatures as low as -90°C using convenient, maintenance-free
thermoelectric cooling. As a result, unwanted thermal noise is minimized to achieve the best possible signal-to-noise ratio.
The camera offers either built-in air or liquid cooling, or a combination of the two, for use in thermal- and vibration-sensitive
environments.
The PIoNIR:640 also features a Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) data interface for remote operation from up to 50 meters away and delivers
a maximum frame rate of 110 frames per second at full resolution.
The new camera is available with the latest Princeton Instruments LightField™ data acquisition software,
which affords complete control over all PIoNIR:640 hardware features via an exceptionally intuitive user interface.
LightField provides automatic defect correction, exposure control up to minutes, and a host of innovative functions
for easy capture and export of imaging and spectral data. The PIoNIR:640 can be integrated into OEM systems using the PICAM™ SDK,
a free software development kit from Princeton Instruments.
Princeton Instruments designs and manufactures high-performance CCD, ICCD, EMCCD, and InGaAs cameras; spectrographs;
and optics-based solutions for the scientific research, industrial imaging, and OEM communities.
www.princetoninstruments.com
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