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.