Making Sense of Ultra-Sensitivity: The Back-Illuminated EMCCD

The trend in instrument performance across a wide range of scientific CCD-based imaging applications is moving very much towards higher sensitivity at faster speed, enabling lower concentrations of emitting molecules to be detected with shorter exposure times and lower excitation powers. The true nature of detector sensitivity and its relationship to Signal to Noise (S/N) is often misunderstood or misrepresented. Andor Technology's Dr. Colin Coates breaks down the concept of sensitivity to its fundamental parameters and describes how recent revolutionary developments in CCD technology are influencing these parameters.