A four million pixel CCD image sensor

An ultra-high resolution image sensor was developed for industrial and scientific applications. The imager is a full-frame CCD sensor, consisting of 2048 × 2048 pixels, and its image area measures 18.43 mm × 18.43 mm. The pixel size is 9 microns × 9 microns. The sensor has dual readout registers to increase the data rate. The sensor could be operated in the single or dual readout register mode depending on the user´s frame rate requirements and the data capture system. The architecture of this imager is suitable for accumulation mode operation, which results in low dark current of less than 10 pA/cm² at room temperature. The charge transfer efficiency is 0.99999 for horizontal clock rate up to 20 MHz.