Category: SWIR

Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) imaging enables applications in a segment of the electromagnetic spectrum we can’t see with the human eye – or traditional CMOS sensors. See our whitepaper on SWIR camera concepts, functionality, and application fields.

Until recently, SWIR imaging tended to require bulky cameras, sometimes with cooling, which were not inexpensive. Cost-benefit analysis still justified such cameras for certain applications, but made it challenging to conceive of high-volume or embedded systems designs.

Enter Sony’s IMX992/993 SenSWIR InGaAs sensors. Now in Allied Vision Technologies’ Alvium camera families. These sensors “see” both SWIR and visible portions of the spectrum. So deploy them for SWIR alone – as capable, compact, cost-effective SWIR cameras. Or you can design applications that benefit from both visible and SWIR images.

Camera models and options first

The same two sensors, both the 5.3 MP Sony IMX992 and the 3.2 MP Sony IMX993, are available in the Allied Vision Alvium 1800 series with USB3 or MIPI CSI-2 interfaces. As well as in the Alvium G5 series with 5GigE interfaces.

And per the Alvium Flex option, besides the housed presentation available for all 3 interfaces, both the USB3 and CSI-2 versions may be ordered with bare board or open-back configuration, ideal for embedded designs.

Broken out by part number the camera models are:

• Alvium 1800 U-320 VSWIR
• Alvium 1800 U-530 VSWIR
• Alvium 1800 C-320 VSWIR
• Alvium 1800 C-530 VSWIR
• Alvium G5-320 VSWIR
• Alvium G5-530 VSWIR

More about the Sony IMX992 / IMX993 sensors

The big brother IMX992 at 5.3 MP and sibling IMX993 at 3.2 MP share the same underlying design and features. Both have 3.45 µm square pixels. Both are sensitive across a wide spectral range from 400 nm – 1700 nm with impressive quantum efficiencies. Both provide high frame rates – to 84 fps for the 5.3 MP camera, and to 125 fps at 3.2 MP.

Distinctive features HCG and DRRS

Sony provides numerous sensor features to the camera designer, which Allied Vision in turn makes available to the user. Two new features of note include High-Conversion-Gain (HCG) and Dual-Read-Rolling-Shutter (DRRS). Consider the images below, to best understand these capabilities:

With the small pixel size of 3.45 µm, an asset in terms of compact sensor size, Sony innovated noise control features to enhance image quality. Consider the three images above.

The leftmost was made with Sony’s previously-released IMX990. It’s been a popular sensor and it’s still suitable for certain applications. But it doesn’t have the HCG nor DRRS features,

The center image utilized the IMX992 High-Conversion-Gain feature. HCG reduces noise by amplifying the signal immediately after light is converted to an electrical signal. This is ideal when shooting in dark conditions. In bright conditions one may use Low-Conversion-Gain (LCG), essentially “normal” mode.

The rightmost image was generated using Dual-Read-Rolling-Shutter mode in addition to HCG. DRRS mode delivers a pair of images. The first contains the imaging signal together with the embedded noise. The second contains just the noise components. The camera designer can subtract the latter from the former to deliver a synthesized image with approximately 3/4 of the noise eliminated.

Alvium’s SWaP+C characteristics ideal for OEM systems

With small Size, low Weight, low Power requirements, and low Cost, Alvium SWIR cameras fit the SWaP+C requirements. OEM system builders need or value each of those characteristics to build cost-effective embedded and machine vision systems.

1st Vision’s sales engineers have over 100 years of combined experience to assist in your camera and components selection.  With a large portfolio of cameras, lenses, cables, NIC cards and industrial computers, we can provide a full vision solution!

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Recently released Goldeye G/CL-008 XSWIR cameras with QVGA resolution extended range InGaAs sensors offer two sensitivity options: up to 1.9 µm or 2.2µm.

The Extended Range (ER) InGaAs sensor technology integrated into the new Goldeye XSWIR models provides high imaging performance beyond 1.7 µm.

The cut-off wavelength can be shifted to higher values by increasing the amount of Indium vs. Gallium in an InGaAs compound. Corresponding sensors can only detect light below the cut-off wavelength. In the Goldeye XSWIR cameras there are four different sensors with VGA and QVGA resolution and cut-off wavelength at 1.9 µm or 2.2 µm that provide very high peak quantum efficiencies of > 75%.

The new Goldeye XSWIR models are:

In these cameras the sensors are equipped with a dual-stage thermo-electric cooler (TEC2) to cool down the sensor temperature by 60K vs. the housing temperature. Also included are image correction capabilities like Non-Uniformity Correction (NUC) and 5×5 Defect Pixel Correction (DPC) to capture high-quality SWIR images beyond 1.7 µm.

Goldeye XSWIR cameras are available with two sensor options. The 1.9µm version detects light between 1,100nm to 1,900nm and the 2.2 µm version from 1,200 – 2,200nm.

Industrial grade solution for an attractive price: Other sensor technologies available to detect light beyond 1,700 nm based on materials like HgCdTe (MCT), Type-II Superlattice (T2SL), or Colloidal Quantum Dots (CQD) tend to be very expensive. The Goldeye XWIR Extended Range (ER) InGaAs sensors have several advantages including cost-effective sensor cooling via TEC, high quantum efficiencies, and high pixel operability (> 98.5%).

MCT or T2SL sensor-based SWIR cameras typically require a very strong sensor cooling using Stirling coolers or TEC3+ elements. By comparison the Goldeye XSWIR cameras are available for a comparatively low price.

The easy integrability and operation of ER InGaAs sensors makes them attractive for industrial applications, including but not limited to:

• Laser beam analysis
• Spectral imaging in industries like recycling, mining, food & beverages, or agriculture
• Medical imaging: e.g. tissue imaging due to deeper penetration of longer wavelengths
• Free Space Optics Communication
• Surveillance

1st Vision’s sales engineers have over 100 years of combined experience to assist in your camera and components selection.  With a large portfolio of lenses, cables, NIC card and industrial computers, we can provide a full vision solution!

Note: All images courtesy of Allied Vision Technologies.

Visible imaging, infrared imaging (IR), short wave IR (SWIR), Extended SWIR (XSWIR) – it’s an alphabet soup of acronyms and their correlating concepts. Let’s briefly review each type of imaging to set the stage for the new kid in town – XSWIR – to better understand what each has to offer.

Visible imaging is the shorthand name for machine vision applications that are in the same portion of the spectral range as human vision, from about 380 – 700 nm. The field of machine vision initially developed largely in the visible space, partly because it’s easiest to conceptualize innovation in a familar space, but also due to the happy coincidence that CCD and CMOS sensors are photosensitive in the same portion of the spectrum as human sight!

Infrared imaging (IR), including near-infrared (NIR), focus on wavelengths in the range above 700 nm. NIR is roughly from 750 nm – 1400 nm. Applications include spectroscopy, hardwood and wood pulp analysis, biomedicine, and more.

Short-wave IR (SWIR) applications have tended to fall in the range 950 nm – 1700 nm. Applications include quality-control of electronics boards, plastic bottle-contents inspection, fruit inspection, and more. The camera sensor is typically based not on Silicon (Si) but rather Indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) , and one typically requires special lensing.

Then there is MWIR (3 – 5 um) and LWIR (9 – 15 um). You can guess what M and L stand for by now. MWIR and LWIR are interesting in their own right, but beyond the scope of this short piece.

We draw your attention to a newish development in SWIR, namely Extended SWIR, or simply XSWIR. Some use the term eSWIR instead – it’s all so new there isn’t a dominant acronym yet as we write this – we’ll persist with XSWIR for purposes of this piece. XSWIR pushes the upper limits of SWIR beyond what earlier SWIR technologies could realize.

As mentioned above, SWIR cameras, lenses, and the systems built on such components tended to concentrate on applications with wavelengths in the range 950 – 1700 nm. XSWIR technologies can now push the right end of the response curve to 1900 nm and even 2200 nm.

Big deal, a few hundred more nanometers of responsivity, who cares? Those doing any of the following may care a lot:

• Spectral imaging
• Laser beam profiling
• Life science research
• Surveillance
• Art inspection

A camera taking XSWIR to 1900 nm responsivity is Allied Vision Technologies’ Goldeye G-034 XSWIR 1.9. AVT’s sister camera the Goldeye G-034 XSWIR 2.2 achieves even more responsivity up to 2200 nm.

The Goldeye family was already known for robust design and ease of use, making SWIR accessible. Of particular note in the new Goldeye XSWIR 1.9 and 2.2 models are:

• Extended SWIR wavelength detection beyond 1,700 nm
• Multi-ROI selection to speed up processes, especially useful in spectrometer-based sorting and recycling applications
• Industrial grade solution for an attractive price

Tell us about your intended application – we love to guide customers to the optimal solution.

1st Vision’s sales engineers have over 100 years of combined experience to assist in your camera and components selection.  With a large portfolio of lenses, cables, NIC card and industrial computers, we can provide a full vision solution!