Applications of SWIR Cameras
SWIR Cameras: Applications
If you’re an art historian, you may be familiar with the applications of SWIR cameras. SWIR cameras are used to see the details of pencil and charcoal drawings. These cameras allow art historians and artists to visually verify the authenticity valuable documents. Here are some examples. Listed below are some applications of SWIR cameras. All of them require a camera with a high sensitivity to infrared light.
Machine Vision Camera
SWIR cameras provide a number of advantages for machine vision applications. Speed is one of the benefits. These cameras operate at standard video rates of 30 to 60 frames per second and can detect objects at speeds as high as ninety thousand lines per second. These cameras can record full 1024-pixel resolution at 12 bit. These cameras are extremely cost-effective. Here are some of the most popular uses of SWIR cameras.
Vision systems are based on industrial machine vision cameras. As machine vision industries become more sophisticated and cost-effective, machine vision industries are adapting to those changes. In the glass industry, for instance, SWIR cameras can identify and reprocess rejects efficiently. SWIR cameras can also detect the centroid energy of laser spots in an industry setting. The camera can detect the centroid energy and identify contaminated materials.
A SWIR camera can also be used to detect moisture. Water is transparent to visible light and absorbs strongly at wavelengths of 1450 to 1900 nm. The SWIR camera detects moisture in coatings and detects fill levels for non-transparent containers. It can also measure the relative water content of plants. A SWIR camera can also detect defects in silicon products and identify plastics in the recycling industry. In addition to these applications, SWIR cameras have optical coatings to improve image quality.
Swir InGaAs Camera
An SWIR InGaAs Camera is a great choice for many defense applications. The uncooled design of the camera is lightweight and sensitive to nightglow. Its high-resolution images can be used to detect laser designators and can be attached to covert eye-safe lasers. Several applications for SWIR imaging include target recognition and laser gated imaging. The advantages of the SWIR InGaAs camera are numerous.
Moisture detection is one of the most popular SWIR applications. Water is transparent to visible light but absorbs strong between 1450 and 1905 nm. This produces an image that appears black. It is a useful tool to detect water. This allows it to identify areas of deficiency and areas of excess water. It can also be used to measure relative water content in plants, and can even detect damaged fruits.
An InGaAs camera is particularly effective in detecting defects and cracks on silicon. InGaAs cameras can penetrate in-vivo tissue and are therefore essential for moisture measurements, surface film distribution and material separation. This imaging technology has a drawback: it produces a lot of dark noise that is often more than one wavelength. Deep cooling, however, reduces the dark noise.
Silicon Inspection Camera
Traditionally, silicon surface inspection has been performed using CCD or CMOS cameras. These cameras can produce a wavelength response between 350 and 1000 nm. While deep-depleted silicon devices have sufficient quantum efficiency to see the shortest wavelengths, they require long integration times and are not suitable to image intraband emissions of Si greater than 1100nm. They are suitable for front-side inspection offline. These are the benefits of Si-based cameras.
A spectroscopic camera is capable of detecting small defects. The polarization of the lens allows for the camera to capture images under polarized light. This is essential for inspection of reflective surfaces. The camera can also be used with single dies or silicon wafers. Its ESD-safe stand is another feature that makes it different from other cameras. The spectral resolution of SWIR cameras is approximately three times higher than a conventional camera.
A silicon inspection camera is able to detect defects in silicon wafers and solar-cell panels. This increases productivity and yields. InGaAs cameras are becoming more popular in silicon inspection applications. InGaAs cameras are especially useful for monitoring wafer bonding processes. It can detect silicon defects even if they are hidden behind the material.