Article
Linear CCD detector
Following a hardware upgrade of the 1205 linear CCD detector board For spectroscopy, the CCD board size was reduced to 18 mm × 50 mm. The signal-to-noise ratio also improved by 45%. To see the company's range of detectors, visit the Line Scan Camera or Linear Detector menu.
A linear CCD detector is an interface circuit that converts the analog pixels of a linear sensor into digital data. The card sets the exposure time, the analog signal gain and the zero-level offset. It then sends the data to the computer. You see the sensor image in the interface software.
The 1205 card works with a 2048-pixel sensor. The pixels of this sensor are 14 μm wide and 200 μm tall. These tall pixels collect more light. That is why the detector performs well in low light. Its sensitivity spans 350 to 1100 nm. You can set the exposure time from 3 μs to 35.5 minutes.
We recommend this linear CCD detector for visible and near-infrared spectrometers. Measuring laser line position and measuring very weak light are also among its uses. This model comes in four versions. The versions differ in their converter (16-bit or 12-bit) and processor (FPGA or microcontroller).
This upgrade gives you two clear benefits. A smaller card fits more easily inside a spectrometer housing. A better signal-to-noise ratio also makes weak spectral peaks show up more cleanly. Each tall pixel of this sensor collects about 14 times as much light as a square pixel of the same width. The detector's line rate is 951.5 lines per second. Its dynamic range reaches 400:1.
See the full specifications on the RA-LSC-1205 line scan camera page. To learn how this type of sensor works, read the Charge-coupled device (CCD) article on Wikipedia.