Detector intensified charge coupled device

The Experimental Technique chapter describes our experimental setup with the following main parts laser source (Ar, excimer, Nd-YAG, nitrogen, dye, OPO), imaging monochromator, gated detector (Intensified Charge Coupled Device) and computer with corresponding software. The main features of the experimental devices are described, which enable us to accomphsh time-resolved detection. 

The analytical capabilities of LIBS and LA-MIP-OES were recently noticeably improved by use of an advanced detection scheme based on an Echelle spectrometer combined with a high-sensitivity ICCD (intensified charge-coupled device) detector. 

Since 1997, we have been using in our laboratory an intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD, Oriel model Instaspec V, with a minimum temporal gate of 2.2 ns) in a daily basis for time resolved luminescence studies. The detector has 512x128 pixels in a maximum spectral range of 200 to 900 nm. With a single laser pulse, a fluorescence or a phosphorescence spectrum can be instantaneously obtained, since the combined use of the delay unit and time gate enables one to separate prompt from delayed emissions. 

Time-resolved absorption spectra of samples of BZP/C12- 1700/EtOH and Cl 2-I5OO/H2O samples were obtained by the use of diffuse reflectance laser flash photolysis technique, developed by Wilkinson et al. [2-4]. In this study, the use of an intensified charge-coupled device as a detector allowed us to obtain time-resolved absorption spectra with nanometer spectral spacing (i.e., where the 200-900 scale is defined by the 512 pixels used for recording spectra in the array of the ICCD) [1,8-14]. 

The first detectors to be used in OMA systems were standard TV image tubes. These were silicon vidicons or the more sensitive Silicon Intensified Target (SIT) detectors, which both employed silicon targets to convert optical information into electronic form. More recently, the use of solid state detectors in the form of a diode array (Reticon) has been found to have some advantages over the vidicons and SIT tubes. Current developments in the field of charge coupled devices (CCD) will probably soon provide an even better multielement detector for use in OMA systems. 

Great progress has also been achieved in the field of low-level signal detection. Apart from new photomultipliers with an extended spectral sensivity range and large quantum efficiencies, new detection instruments have been developed such as image intensifiers, infrared detectors, charge-coupled devices (CCDs) or optical multichannel analyzers, which could move from classified military research into the open market. For many spectroscopic applications they prove to be extremely useful. 

There are three principal types of position-sensitive X-ray detectors of use for crystallography—the vidicon, solid-state devices (largely charge-coupled devices), and proportional counters. Vidicons are area detectors which use image intensifier techniques to produce TV-type images. They are not count rate limited and are therefore well suited for use with high-flux sources... 

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