sCMOS (''scientific Complementary Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor'') are a type of

CMOS image sensor An active-pixel sensor (APS) is an image sensor, which was invented by Peter J.W. Noble in 1968, where each pixel sensor unit cell has a photodetector (typically a pinned photodiode) and one or more active transistors. In a metal–oxide–semicon ...

(CIS). These sensors are commonly used as components in specific observational scientific instruments, such as

microscopes A microscope () is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic means being invisibl ...

and

telescopes A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption, or Reflection (physics), reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally, it was an optical instrument using len ...

. sCMOS image sensors offer extremely low noise, rapid

frame rate Frame rate, most commonly expressed in frame/s, or FPS, is typically the frequency (rate) at which consecutive images (Film frame, frames) are captured or displayed. This definition applies to film and video cameras, computer animation, and moti ...

s, wide

dynamic range Dynamics (from Greek δυναμικός ''dynamikos'' "powerful", from δύναμις ''dynamis'' " power") or dynamic may refer to: Physics and engineering * Dynamics (mechanics), the study of forces and their effect on motion Brands and ent ...

, high quantum efficiency, high resolution, and a large field of view simultaneously in one image.of sCMOS cameras for detection and localization of single Cy5 molecules''
Optics Express, Saumya Saurabh, Suvrajit Maji, and Marcel P. Bruchez, 2012. The sCMOS technology was launched in 2009 during the ''Laser World of Photonics'' fair in Munich. The companies Andor Technology, Fairchild Imaging and PCO Imaging developed the technology for

image sensor An image sensor or imager is a sensor that detects and conveys information used to form an image. It does so by converting the variable attenuation of light waves (as they refraction, pass through or reflection (physics), reflect off objects) into s ...

s as a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

Technical details

Prior to the introduction of the technology, scientists were limited to using either CCD or EMCCD cameras, both of which had their own set of technical limitations. While back-illuminated electron-multiplying CCD (EMCCD) cameras are optimal for purposes requiring the lowest noise and dark currents, sCMOS technology's higher pixel count and lower cost result in its use in a wide range of precision applications. sCMOS devices can capture data in a global-shutter “snapshot” mode over all the pixels or rectangular subsets of pixels, and can also operate in a rolling-shutter mode. The cameras are available with a monochrome sCMOS image sensors or with RGB sCMOS image sensors. With sCMOS, digital information for each frame is generated rapidly and with an improved low-light image quality. The latest sCMOS sensors provide low enough noise and do not benefit considerably from lower temperatures as it was with CCDs, allowing researchers to scan across a sample and capture high-quality images. Some disadvantages at this time, (2023), with sCMOS cameras versus related technologies are: * sCMOS sensors tend be more expensive than traditional CMOS sensors. * sCMOS sensors have a limited resolution compared to other types of sensors like CCD. Comparison - sCMOS vs

In practice

The

New York University School of Medicine The New York University Grossman School of Medicine is a medical school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1841 and is one of two medical schools of the university, the other being the NYU G ...

uses sCMOS cameras for their research. They were used to study biological molecules and processes in real-time at nanometer scale. Such cameras were also in use in astronomy and

microscopy Microscopy is the technical field of using microscopes to view subjects too small to be seen with the naked eye (objects that are not within the resolution range of the normal eye). There are three well-known branches of microscopy: optical mic ...

Technical details

In practice

See also

References

Further reading