Scientific CMOS Technology

Scientific CMOS (sCMOS) Performance Highlights

sCMOS carries an advanced set of performance features that renders it entirely suitable to high fidelity, quantitative scientific measurement. Scientific CMOS (sCMOS) stands alone in its ability to simultaneously deliver on many key performance parameters, overcoming the 'trade-offs' that are inherent to current scientific imaging technology standards, and eradicating the performance drawbacks that have traditionally been associated with conventional CMOS imagers.

The 5.5 megapixel sensor offers a large field of view and high resolution, without compromising read noise or frame rate. The read noise in itself is exceptional, even when compared to the highest performance CCDs. Only slow-scan CCDs are capable of this level of read noise performance. High-resolution, slowscan CCDs are typically characterized by seconds per frame rather than frames per

second. The fact that the sCMOS device can achieve < 2 electrons RMS read noise while reading out 5.5 megapixels at 30 frames/s renders it truly extraordinary in the market. Furthermore, the sensor is capable of achieving 100 full frames/s with a read noise < 3 electrons RMS in rolling shutter mode. This is important information for some applications that can take advantage of an elongated (letter box shape) region of interest.