Extension of capabilities of the instrument KIT-2F in recording low-intensity fluxes of IR radiation at nanosecond exposure times

Abstract

This paper considers the question of extending capabilities of the instrument KIT-2F for recording high-speed events in the IR region at (lambda) equals 1 - 10.6 micrometer with the exposure times of 10 ns - 1 microsecond(s) by using an image converter (IC) based on the MCP both as a fast shutter and an image intensifier. It is shown that in recording high-power IR laser radiation the exposure time has been reduced down to (tau) exp min approximately 10 ns without degrading the image quality. It has been found out that in the mode of limiting sensitivity when weak thermal IR signals are recorded, there is a limitation both on maximum and minimum exposure times. The maximum exposure time is limited by the internal thermal background of the photo-detector and the minimum exposure time by the insufficiency of statistics on the recorded signal leading to a loss in the resolving power of the instrument. It is shown that KIT-2F interfaced with the IC permits to record objects heated to temperature t equals 700 degrees Celsius at the exposure time (tau) exp greater than or equal to 100 ns.© (1999) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.