What is Pixel Well Depth?

May 25, 2017 | Detectors, Glossary of Spectroscopy Terms, Uncategorized

Pixels work by converting photons into electrons. Most detectors store electrons in the pixels while they are exposed to the light, then convert the electrons into a signal after exposure. The pixel well depth, also called the full well capacity, determines how many...

What is a Hot Pixel?

May 23, 2017 | Detectors, Glossary of Spectroscopy Terms

A hot pixel has a higher than average dark current. This can be accounted for in the dark spectrum or by cooling. However, if the dark current is too large, the pixel might saturate prematurely. If that is the case, the pixel can be considered defective and...

What is Pixel Resolution?

May 23, 2017 | Detectors, Glossary of Spectroscopy Terms, Spectrograph

Pixel resolution is simply the dimensions of the detector in pixels. For StellarNet detectors, the CCD is 2048 x 1 pixels and the PDAs are 512 x 1 or 1024 x 1 pixels. Notice that they are all linear detectors. Computer monitors and TVs are also described according to...

What is a spectrometer Linearity?

Apr 25, 2017 | Detectors, Glossary of Spectroscopy Terms

Linearity is a property where the pixels in a detector have a linear relationship between the number of electrons generated and the voltage produced. It only happens for a certain range in the number of electrons. Above it, the pixel saturates and the voltage stops...

What is a Haze?

Apr 25, 2017 | Glossary of Spectroscopy Terms

The appearance of transparent materials can be tuned for their applications and can be quantified by their light scattering optical properties. The cloudiness or “haze” can be defined by the percentage of light transmission which deviates from an incident beam greater...

What is a Saturation?

Apr 25, 2017 | Detectors, Glossary of Spectroscopy Terms

Saturation is what happens when a pixel generates too many electrons. After a pixel exceeds its pixel well depth, the signal from the pixel stops increasing with more photons. The stored electrons can even start “leaking” into neighboring pixels and distorting the...