Intense Imaging

Dr. Mark Christenson, Colin Earle and Jeff Grant

The incorporation of image intensifiers into high-performance charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras has produced intensified imaging systems that provide high sensitivity in low-light conditions and allow temporal resolution of extremely short phenomena. These imaging systems are widely used for state-of-the-art applications such as laser-induced fluorescence, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, combustion research, plasma studies, nondestructive testing and single-molecule fluorescence imaging.

An image intensifier is a vacuum device, generally 18 to 25 mm in diameter, comprising a photocathode input (multialkali or semiconductor layers on a window), an electron-multiplying microchannel plate and a phosphor screen that converts electrons into photons. In high-performance scientific cameras, fiber optics often couple the image intensifier to the CCD...