26-10-2010 Hamamatsu Learning Center: Frame-Tra…

Search Enter Search Terms...

Main Site
Events
Support
Corporate
News

Tutorials
Articles
Contact
Home

Image Galleries
Digital Images

ImageEM
Video Gallery

ORCA-R2
Video Gallery

ORCA-Flash 2.8
Video Gallery

Featured Article
…hamamatsu.com/…/frametransfer.html 1/3
26-10-2010 Hamamatsu Learning Center: Frame-Tra…

Electron Multiplying Charge-Coupled Devices (EMCCDs)

By incorporating on-chip multiplication gain, the electron multiplying CCD achieves, in an all solid-state sensor,
the single-photon detection sensitivity typical of intensified or electron-bombarded CCDs at much lower cost and
without compromising the quantum efficiency and resolution characteristics of the conventional CCD structure.

Product Information

High Speed Cooled CCD Cameras

Review Articles
Concepts in Digital Imaging Technology
Frame-Transfer CCD Architecture

Frame-Transfer charged coupled image sensors have an architecture similar to that of full-frame CCDs. These
devices have a parallel shift register that is divided into two separate and almost identical areas, termed the
Image and Storage arrays.

The image array consists of a light-sensitive photodiode register, which acts as the image plane and collects
incoming photons projected onto the CCD surface by the camera or microscope lenses. After image data has
been collected and converted into electrical potential by the image array, the data is then quickly shifted in a
parallel transfer to the storage array for readout by the serial shift register. Transfer time from the image-
integrating array to the shielded storage array is dependent upon the pixel array sizes, but is typically on the order
of 500 microseconds or less. The storage array is not light sensitive in most frame-transfer CCD designs,
however some arrays are not equipped with an integral light shield. Arrays of the this design are capable of being
operated in either full-frame or frame-transfer modes. With the use of a mechanical shutter, a frame-transfer
CCD can be used to quickly capture two sequential images, a useful feature in fluorescence microscopy and
other applications that require simultaneous acquisition of images generated at different emission and/or excitation
wavelengths.

…hamamatsu.com/…/frametransfer.html 2/3
26-10-2010 Hamamatsu Learning Center: Frame-Tra…
As presented in Figure 1, the storage array is illustrated as a large area of gray-scale "pixels" that have been
covered with an opaque metal mask or light shield to prevent any potential interaction with incoming photons. A
miniature portion of the total image is contained in each pixel element, which consists of four photodiodes
masked with red, green, and blue colored filters. The image presented in the upper right-hand corner of Figure 1
is an actual high-magnification photomicrograph of a single pixel element. Like the full-frame architecture, the
frame-transfer CCD undergoes readout by shifting rows of image information in a parallel fashion, one row at a
time, to the serial shift register. The serial register then sequentially shifts each row of image information to an
output amplifier as a serial data stream. The entire process is repeated until all rows of image data are transferred
off the chip, first to a signal output amplifier and then to an analog-to-digital signal converter integrated circuit.
Reconstruction of the image in a digital format yields the final photograph or photomicrograph.

During the period in which the parallel storage array is being read, the image array is busy integrating charge for
the next image frame. A major advantage of this architecture is the ability of the frame-transfer device to operate
without a shutter or synchronized strobe, allowing for an increase in device speed and faster frame rates. Frame-
transfer CCDs suffer from several drawbacks including image "smear", which occurs because integration and
dump to the storage array occur simultaneously. Smear artifacts are limited to the time necessary for transfer of
image integration data to the storage array. Frame-transfer devices are also more costly to produce because
twice the silicon area is required to implement the architecture, resulting in lower image resolution and higher cost.

Contributing Authors

Mortimer Abramowitz - Olympus America, Inc., Two Corporate Center Drive., Melville, New York, 11747.

Michael W. Davidson - National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, 1800 East Paul Dirac Dr., The Florida
State University, Tallahassee, Florida, 32310.

…hamamatsu.com/…/frametransfer.html 3/3