The firm's latest detectors are based on indium gallium arsenide, MCT and broadband indium antimonide arrays suited to SWIR cameras for medical, scientific and industrial markets

Xenics' new XFPA-1.7-640-LN2 detector, is geared to very demanding low-signal-level measurements in semiconductor inspection and fault localisation.



XFPA-1.7-640-LN2: LN2 cooled high resolution SWIR detector

 

The company is also introducing the Bobcat-320-Gated, a camera for scientific R&D applications, which is claimed to deliver extremely short integration times of 80 nanoseconds. 

 

The Lynx high speed SWIR line-scan series offers highest resolution of up to 1 x 2048 for non-intrusive medical imaging and general SWIR applications, whereas Gobi-640-GigE addresses the lower-cost LWIR thermal imaging segment.

Xenics is exhibiting its high-speed SWIR and advanced thermal imaging for non-intrusive medical applications at the BiOS 2012 presentation. Targets are bio-medical technology providers of optical coherence tomography, molecular imaging, and spectroscopy solutions product range in Booth # 8216 

Among Xenics' new camera releases for the medical market is the Lynx, with the new model offering a unique achievement in resolution of up to 1 x 2048 pixels. This is an outstanding value in the SWIR line-scan camera market. It enables the user to increase resolution by a factor of two compared to others offering 1024 pixels. Lynx-1.7-2048 offers low noise at a high line rate of 10 kHz; Lynx-1.7-1024 and Lynx-1.7-512 even offers up to 40 kHz line rate, which enables the capture of fast moving samples. Lynx is equipped with the smallest available sensor having a pixel pitch of 12.5 μm to support inspection tasks that demand ever higher accuracy in the SWIR range. A special benefit for medical imaging applications in the SWIR realm, such as OCT, is that the light source radiates at a wavelength of 1.3 μm, which increases the penetration depth in human tissue. Lynx is compatible with the C-Mount standard.

Another new product release, Gobi-640-GigE, addresses lower-cost, high-sensitivity medical imaging in a small form factor with 640 x 480 pixels. The camera includes a compact GigE interface, on-board image processing and Power over Ethernet (PoE). The new model offers unparalleled ease of integration via GigE Vision, as well as utmost flexibility through PoE.

The Xenics Gobi series is also well suited for life tissue imaging and breast cancer examination.

Xenics' new-product presentation builds on highly advanced SWIR cameras and detectors for demanding low-light-level applications and gated imaging. Photonics West 2012 will see the introduction of a high-resolution liquid-nitrogen- (LN2) cooled SWIR detector, the XFPA-1.7-640-LN2. It was specifically developed for R&D spectroscopy and photon emission in the semiconductor failure analysis industry, high-resolution spectroscopy and low-light-level SWIR and VisNIR imaging.

The new detector XFPA-1.7-640-LN2, based on source-follower detector (SFD) read-out technology, offers high sensitivity at a resolution of 640 x 512 pixels with a pixel pitch of 20 μm and reaches extreme long integration times. LN2-cooling at 77K allows for lowest noise (< 20 e-) ever seen for SWIR detectors and low dark current (< 5 e-/sec per pixel).

Optionally, the measurement realm can be extended into the visible spectrum. Easy focusing on the microscope stage is supported by the increased frame rate in windowing mode.

Based on this new XFPA detector, Xenics will introduce a complete camera system, the "Cougar", in the second half of 2012.

Another highlight at the Xenics booth is Bobcat-320-Gated, an SWIR camera operating in the 0.85 to 1.6 μm spectral band. It provides extremely short integration times down to 80 nsec. Bobcat-320-Gated makes use of a highly sensitive uncooled InGaAs detector, which is available in a 20μm pixel-pitch. The compact camera contains real-time on-board image processing and image correction – all at a very favourable price point.

A special feature of Bobcat-320-Gated is the programmable trigger-out delay between the internally generated trigger-out pulse and the start of integration. It is configurable from 80 nsec up to 2 msec in steps of 80 nsec. Bobcat-320-Gated 

captures frames at a frame rate tuneable around 28 fps. With all these features, Bobcat-320-Gated is ideally suited for the inspection of hot and fast moving objects or measurement systems requiring synchronisation of the camera with a pulsed laser.

"Our main message," says Xenics founder and CEO Bob Grietens, "is that Xenics covers the entire wavelength span from SWIR over MWIR to LWIR with advanced thermography systems. For medical applications such as OCT, our new high-speed SWIR cameras are the perfect fit. In the scientific markets, our new Bobcat-320-Gated takes the lead by providing very short integration times."