Cooled Cameras for Physics and Spectroscopy

When a spectrograph spreads your light across the sensor, every column becomes a wavelength and every electron counts. A detector that looks great on a visible-light imaging spec sheet can fall short out at 1,000 nm, below 300 nm, or on a weak line sitting next to a strong one.

We've built cooled scientific cameras for more than two decades, and they show up in a lot of physics and spectroscopy labs, from Raman benches to the spectroscopic analysis of volcano plumes. What spectroscopists ask us for is consistent: the right sensor coating for their band, real on-chip binning, deep full wells, and cooling they can count on through long integrations. That's what this page covers. Every FLI camera is Made in USA.

Where our cameras fit

Raman spectroscopy

With a red or near-infrared laser, the Raman signal lands where standard thin silicon starts losing sensitivity, and thin back-illuminated CCDs can show fringing (etaloning) in the NIR. Our deep-depletion MicroLine CCDs use thicker silicon to raise NIR response. The trade-off is dark current, so plan your cooling and dark-frame calibration around it. Our post on cooled CCD cameras for Raman and NIR spectroscopy walks through the choice in detail.

NIR and photoluminescence spectroscopy

Photoluminescence and other NIR emission work puts weak signals toward the end of silicon's range. Deep-depletion sensors such as the ML4710DD are built for enhanced near-infrared sensitivity, and they pair well with long, cooled exposures. If you also need speed, we'll help you weigh a deep-depletion CCD against a low-noise CMOS sensor for your signal levels.

UV absorption and emission spectroscopy

Silicon absorbs UV light in a very thin surface layer, so coatings and windows matter as much as the sensor itself. We offer UV-coated MicroLine CCDs such as the ML4240UV, and on the CMOS side the Kepler KL400BI has excellent QE at 240 nm. The camera window is chosen before your camera enters our clean-room build, so it belongs in the first conversation.

Plasma, atmospheric and emission spectroscopy

Emission lines from plasmas, flames and atmospheric sources range from very bright to barely there, often in the same frame. On our CCD cameras, 100,000 to 150,000 electron full wells and 16-bit digitization let you record a strong line and a weak band in one exposure, and on-chip CCD binning down each spectral column lifts weak lines out of the read noise.

Fast spectra and kinetics

When you need back-to-back spectra without waiting on a mechanical shutter, the ML4720 frame-transfer CCD shifts the image under its masked half in about 10 milliseconds. It also comes in a UV-coated version, the ML4720UV.

Scintillator, phosphor and streak tube readout

Many physics experiments end in visible light: a scintillator, a phosphor screen or a streak tube output. FLI cameras are used for X-ray crystallography and streak tube readout, and our large-format CMOS and CCD cameras give you the field and resolution to read these screens. For more on detector design, see our post on cooled cameras for indirect X-ray imaging.

Which FLI cameras fit

There isn't one "spectroscopy camera." The right fit depends on your band, your signal level and your spectrograph's focal plane. These are the usual starting points.

NIR and Raman: MicroLine deep-depletion CCDs

• ML4240DD and ML4240AM: back-illuminated CCD on deep-depletion silicon, 2048 x 2048 with 13.5 µm pixels (27.6 mm square), 100,000 e- full well. The AM adds an enhanced multilayer coating.
• ML4710DD and ML4710AM: 1024 x 1024 with 13 µm pixels (13.3 mm square) for compact spectrographs, 100,000 e- full well, enhanced NIR sensitivity.

UV: UV-coated MicroLines and the Kepler KL400BI

• ML4240UV: 2048 x 2048, 13.5 µm pixels, enhanced UV coating, 100,000 e- full well.
• ML4710UV / ML4720UV: 1024 x 1024, 13 µm pixels, in standard or frame-transfer formats.
• KL400BI: back-illuminated CMOS, 2048 x 2048 with 11 µm pixels, 1.6 e- read noise, 24 fps in HDR, and excellent QE at 240 nm.

Visible and general-purpose spectroscopy

• ML4240MB and the ProLine PL4240: 2048 x 2048, 13.5 µm pixels, low dark current for long integrations.
• ML23042 and PL23042: 2048 x 2048 with large 15 µm pixels and a 150,000 e- full well.

Large-area screen readout: Aurora CMOS

• AR455 (43.2 mm diagonal) and AR411 (66.7 mm diagonal, lead time 16 weeks): 3.76 µm pixels and 91% peak QE for high-resolution readout of scintillators and phosphor screens.

Across the MicroLine line you get 16-bit digitization, under 1% non-linearity, external trigger in and out, subarray readout, and air cooling with optional liquid cooling. Compare sensor formats on our sensor size chart, browse the full MicroLine family, or see how pixel size maps to your optics in our post on matching pixel size to your optics.

Why labs keep buying FLI

Since inception, fewer than 1% of FLI cameras have failed in their first five years. We machine our own housings and build every sensor chamber in our 1,000+ sq ft ISO Class 7 clean room, then test each camera before it ships. You can see how on our in-house manufacturing page. Our SDK is a free download, and MicroLine and ProLine cameras also work with FLIGrab, LabVIEW, MaxIm DL and INDI. Drivers and software are on our support page.

If you build spectrometers, our post on choosing an OEM camera partner covers how we work with instrument teams, and air versus liquid cooling for OEM cameras covers cooling inside an enclosure.

Frequently asked questions

Which FLI camera is best for Raman spectroscopy?

For red and NIR laser Raman, start with a deep-depletion MicroLine such as the ML4240DD or ML4710DD. Deep depletion raises NIR response and reduces fringing, but these sensors have much higher dark current than standard silicon, so cooling and dark frames matter. If your Raman work is in the visible, a CCD with lower dark current may be the better choice.

Can I bin pixels on the chip for spectroscopy?

Yes, on our CCD cameras. Binning adds charge on the CCD itself before readout, and FLI cameras allow arbitrary X and Y binning, such as 2x8 or 1x20. The limit is the capacity of the serial register, so when individual pixels are already close to full, keep the binning modest.

Do you offer UV-sensitive cameras?

Yes. We offer UV-coated MicroLine CCDs (ML4240UV, ML4710UV, ML4720UV), and the Kepler KL400BI CMOS camera has excellent QE at 240 nm. Window choice matters just as much, and some windows transmit farther into the UV than others. Tell us your band; window transmission data is available on request.

How cold do FLI cameras run?

Our cooling is rated relative to ambient, not as an absolute temperature. On their datasheets, the ML4240DD cools to 55 °C below ambient on air and the ML4710DD to 60 °C below ambient. Optional liquid cooling helps when the camera sits inside a warm enclosure.

Request a quote

Tell us your wavelength range, typical exposure times, spectrograph format and any enclosure limits, and our sales team will help you compare deep-depletion, UV-coated and lower-dark-current sensors for your setup. Request a quote or email sales@flicamera.com.

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