Charge Couple Devices
Charge Couple Devices
Charge Couple Devices
Charge Couple Devices, or CCDs operate in the charge domain, rather than the current domain, which speeds up their response time. They are made up of an array of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors. Individual discrete detectors are made in a line array or area array. Small pixel size of the CCD ~5 mm, with a provision for optical input, make the device suitable for high-density imaging. CCDs are used for almost all digital imaging devices today.
A four phase CCD, showing four MOS capacitors/pixel. Often 3-5 capacitors are used per pixel to increase the signal and to vary the resolution. Higher resolution imaging requires the use of more pixels, which requires using less capacitors/pixel. High resolution imaging uses 3 capacitors/pixel, medium resolution imaging uses 4 capacitors/pixel and low resolution imaging uses 5 capacitors per pixel.
Color imaging is accomplished by the use of filters. Color CCDs have less spatial resolution than black-white CCDs are more individual CCDs per pixel must used (4x).
where k and Io are constants and I is the intensity of the light on the detector, which is the forcing function of a 1st order measurement system having a ramp input.