kSA 400 Imaging and Analysis System

HARDWARE FEATURES

  • Option of either digital or analog high-resolution, Peltier cooled CCD imager with software-selectable exposure time. 60 or 110 frames/second, 10-bit digital acquisition capability, 12 bit up-grades available.

  • Scientific-grade real-time image acquisition hardware, allowing real-time image display both on host computer monitor and optional auxiliary monitor.

  • Optimized optics for RHEED imaging, allowing for zoom in and zoom out without compromising light flux.

  • Flange mounting assemblies for a variety of vacuum chambers and flanges, concealing and protecting imager and optics and providing a light-tight environment.

  • Optional analog and digital input and output boards for reading external input (from thermocouple, for example) or controlling external devices (process control system, for example).

  • External triggering capability, including asynchronous reset for triggering precisely to external events, like substrate rotation. Includes fast shuttering up to 1/10,000 sec.

SOFTWARE FEATURES

  • Complete image archiving capability, storing image as well as image acquisition parameters (time, user comments, exposure time, image types, etc.)

  • Up to 96-bit deep image storage, resulting in higher accuracy for integration control and frame co-adding.

  • Real-time display of the following diffraction features (during growth, annealing, etc.):

    • intensities (peak, average, centroid)
    • lattice spacing
    • FWHM/coherence
    • line profile(s)
    • analog input voltages

  • RHEED-specific analysis routines, including algorithms for determining in-plane lattice spacing, in-plane coherence length, and deposition rate.

  • Image "filters", including background subtraction, inelastic background subtraction, contrast maximization, high and low pass filters, false coloring, edge detection, 2D FFT, and more.

  • Optional user-programmable processing and analysis routines.

  • Various types of image acquisition, including single image, multiple images, multiple regions, and movies. "Scan Mode" images naturally show diffraction pattern evolution and yield simple time-resolved diffraction analysis. All images and graphics may be exported to standard file formats, including .wmf, .bmp, .tif, .avi, and text files.

  • Publication quality 2D and 3D graphics allow you to visualize diffraction data and fine-tune graphics by changing fonts, font sizes, labels, colors, palettes and axes.

  • Online, context-sensitive user manual.