CMOS-based microspectrometer fills gap as CCDs fade
In response to recent moves by major front-illuminated CCD manufacturers to obsolete some commonly used CCD arrays, Avantes (Apeldoorn, Netherlands) has introduced the AvaSpec-ULS2048CL-EVO microspectrometer with a CMOS detector. A smart spectrometer with native gigabit Ethernet, USB3, and RS232 communication options, the CMOS-based microspectrometer operates from 200 to 1100 nm with resolution as low as 0.06 nm full-width half-maximum (FWHM).
Compared to CCD-based microspectrometers with a 2048-pixel CCD array and typical integration times of 1–2 ms at minimum, the new device has a 2048-pixel CMOS array that supports 20 μs integration times to better support high-speed applications such as pulsed source measurement, laser characterization, and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). Avantes designed the microspectrometer to leverage inherent CMOS advantages such as native UV response from 200 to 400 nm, superior signal-to-noise, and greater near-infrared sensitivity above 900 nm. Inherent to CMOS detector technology is the provision of direct charge conversion without any transfer process time, and it also eliminates blooming and smearing—inherent weaknesses of CCD technologies. Avantes will continue to offer CCD-based instruments through the end of life of current front-illuminated detectors. However, the company believes that the new CMOS technology will be a superior replacement for most spectroscopy applications. Reference: www.avantes.com/products/spectrometers/starline/item/1035-avaspec-uls-2048clevo.
Gail Overton | Senior Editor (2004-2020)
Gail has more than 30 years of engineering, marketing, product management, and editorial experience in the photonics and optical communications industry. Before joining the staff at Laser Focus World in 2004, she held many product management and product marketing roles in the fiber-optics industry, most notably at Hughes (El Segundo, CA), GTE Labs (Waltham, MA), Corning (Corning, NY), Photon Kinetics (Beaverton, OR), and Newport Corporation (Irvine, CA). During her marketing career, Gail published articles in WDM Solutions and Sensors magazine and traveled internationally to conduct product and sales training. Gail received her BS degree in physics, with an emphasis in optics, from San Diego State University in San Diego, CA in May 1986.