Xenics has launched the SWIR high-resolution InGaAs line scan camera, Lynx. The camera platform features a 12.5μm grid offering 512, 1,024 or 2,048 pixels, various configurations ranging from a high sensitivity mode (HS) to a high dynamic range mode (HDR) and a frame rate up to 40kHz. Lynx is fully optimised for integration in advanced solutions in industrial image processing and spectroscopy.
Lynx operates between 0.9 and 1.7μm and provides high optical sensitivity and a broad dynamic range well suited for industrial image processing and optical coherence tomography (OCT).
The camera is based on Xenics' proven linear sensor series Xlin. Currently, there are three Lynx models offering line lengths of 512, 1,024 or 2,048 pixels at a pixel grid of 12.5 or 25μm and pixel heights of 12.5 or 250μm to cover a wide range of high-resolution industrial and spectroscopy applications.
The Lynx sensor is supplied with a one-stage thermoelectric cooling, which can be expanded to three-stage cooling for a higher signal-to-noise ratio. In this way small signals in Raman or photoluminescence spectroscopy can be measured. The camera has a spectrometer flange and it can be equipped with C-mount compatible lenses.
The camera offers a broad range of advanced techniques featured across the Xenics camera portfolio. The analogue signal output of the InGaAs photodiodes is pre-processed on-chip via two CMOS read-out ICs (ROIC) with five integration capacities selectable individually or collectively at runtime. This yields a wide range of conversion characteristics to adapt to the required pixel size and application. Correlated double sensing compensates offset and reset noise, while a subsequent sample/hold stage decouples readout from integration. An analogue multiplexer and pad driver transfers all pixel values sequentially to the camera's external analogue/digital converter.
In its high sensitivity (HS) mode, Lynx offers a gain of 3.6e- per AD count. For applications where dynamic range is important, the camera offers a signal-to-noise ration of up to 3.200:1. System integration is easy through the flexible user interface.
The camera outputs 14-bit image data via the fast Camera Link or its GigE Vision compatible Gigabit-Ethernet connection. Camera control and parameter selection is provided through a serial interface. Trigger inputs and outputs will synchronise image capturing with selected external events. A GPIO covering two inputs and two outputs allows the camera to interface dynamically to PLC or PWM controlled systems.
With this set of advanced features, the new Lynx is well suited for near-infrared spectroscopy and image processing as a reliable quality assurance tool to uncover internal defects in the objects under test. Also, highly sensitive NIR cameras can analyse the weak electroluminescence of solar modules and thereby help increase manufacturing yields. The camera is also the perfect tool for integration in systems for skin cancer detection, for instance, through near-infrared OCT.
