Signal-to-Noise Ratio Performance Comparison of Electron Multiplying CCD and Intensified CCD Detectors
Basic principles of current Electron Multiplying CCD (EMCCD) and Intensified CCD (ICCD) detectors are reviewed. Based on their noise characteristics, complete signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) theoretical models are constructed for both devices. At high gain levels, we derive that an ICCD is mainly affected by photocathode noise and micro-channel plate (MCP) noise and the effective readout noise of an EMCCD is less than one electron. Therefore, we propose simplified SNR models of ICCD and EMCCD cameras. SNR performances are compared through simulations and experiments to identify the most influencing parameters. The results show that the SNR performance provided by the ICCD is constricted by photocathode quantum efficiency and noise factor of the MCP. The EMCCD is strongly influenced by thermal dark current noise which will be multiplied up along with the signal by the gain register. Thus, EMCCDs must be strongly cooled in order to get the optimum image quality. Cooled EMCCDs always outperform ICCDs.
low-light-level imaging noise characteristics comparison of SNR performance Electron Multiplying CCD Intensified CCD
Wen wen Zhang Qian Chen
School of Electronic Engineering & Optoelectronic Technology, Nanjing University of Science & Technology Nanjing 210094, Jiangsu, China
国际会议
2009图像分析与信号处理国际会议(2009 International Conference on Image Analysis and Signal Processing)
浙江台州
英文
337-341
2009-04-11（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）