Backside illuminated CCD operating at 16,000,000 frames per second with sub-ten-photon sensitivity

An ultra-high-speed and very high sensitivity video camera is developed. The highest frame rate reaches 16,000,000 frames per second (16 Mfps). The full well capacity is 22,000e− at frame rates up to 4 Mfps, and 8000e− at 16 Mfps. The pixel count is 165,072 (362×456) pixels. The total number of consecutive frames is 117, which can be doubled to 234 by interlaced imaging operation. The sensitivity is less than 10 photons/pixel.

► A high-speed high-sensitivity CCD image sensor was developed.
► It has a special structure processed on a wafer with p/n double epi-layers.
► The highest frame rate is 16,000,000 fps for 165,000 (=456×362) pixels.
► The CCM (EM-CCD) is mounted, which makes the sensitivity less than 10 photons/pixel.