Detectors & Imaging

Partnership to develop deep-cooled SWIR camera for research uses

April 1, 2021

The SWIR camera is deep-cooled down to 50 K with a long-life cryocooler, allowing a drastic reduction of dark current.

Lytid (Paris, France) has released its SIRIS shortwave-infrared (SWIR) camera, a deep-cooled SWIR camera based upon a Lin/Log indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) sensor from New Imaging Technologies (NIT; Verrières le Buisson, France) and image processing algorithms from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS; also in Paris).

SIRIS exhibits readout noise <10 e- and dynamic range >120 dB simultaneously because of NIT’s Lin/Log 1601 SWIR sensor. The camera is deep-cooled down to 50 K with a long-life cryocooler, allowing a drastic reduction of dark current. Exposure time over one hour can be easily obtained. Everything is fully integrated into a compact and plug-and-play casing based on Lytid’s advanced photonic system integration.

An image of Saturn taken with the SIRIS SWIR camera, 100 ms exposure time.

Moreover, the camera incorporates advanced noise reduction algorithms developed by ENS-CNRS, among which nondestructive readout noise reduction is embedded. The resulting noise performance is drastically reduced and the final readout noise is less than 10 e-.

Applications for the camera cover high-end imaging such as astronomical research, biomedical imaging, and bioluminescence.

Source: NIT press release – March 30, 2021