New High Speed EMCCD Cameras Provide Unprecedented Low-Light Imaging Performance

June 9, 2015 — Trenton, New Jersey — Princeton Instruments is pleased to announce an addition to the ProEM®-HS line of high-speed EMCCD cameras. The new ProEM-HS:1024BX3 is a 1024 x 1024 pixel back-illuminated EMCCD camera with patented eXcelon®3 technology (X3) for low-light imaging and spectroscopy applications. This advanced camera offers a combination of high sensitivity (>95% QE) and best fringe suppression in the near infrared as well as single-photon sensitivity.

Enabled by 30 MHz ADC readout capability, the ProEM-HS:1024BX3 delivers 25 full frames per second. Furthermore, this next-generation camera provides >4,400 fps with reduced ROI as well as >20,000 spectra per second utilizing special high-speed, custom readout modes. Additionally, the unique spectra-kinetics mode is designed to deliver >300,000 spectra per second in burst mode.

Thanks to all-metal, hermetic XP vacuum seal technology and the industry’s only lifetime vacuum guarantee, this ProEM-HS camera is thermoelectrically cooled to below -65°C using air and liquid for worry-free operation. Other advanced features include a built-in light source for precise electron multiplication (EM) gain calibration, excellent baseline stability, hardware time-stamping, and a Gigabit Ethernet data interface.

Ravi Guntupalli, vice president of sales and marketing at Princeton Instruments notes, “Our engineering team managed to make these cameras three times faster than previous generation cameras. The ProEM-HS:1024BX3 is one of the best EMCCD camera offerings on the market for low-light imaging and spectroscopy applications such as single-molecule fluorescence [SMF], astronomy, Bose-Einstein condensates [BECs], and plasma studies.”

The ProEM-HS camera is fully compatible with Princeton Instruments’ powerful and intuitive LightField software which provides complete control of camera features via a cutting-edge graphical user interface. For researchers requiring a custom interface, drivers for National Instruments’ LabVIEW® and MathWorks’ MATLAB® are included, as are free software development kits (SDKs).

The ProEM-HS family of high-speed EMCCD cameras is also designed for easy integration with the award-winning Princeton Instruments IsoPlane® spectrographs to further leverage their excellent imaging and spectroscopic performance.