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Description
Streak cameras are used to temporally measure ultra-fast optical signals. They are also called optical oscilloscopes -Optoscope-. The temporal resolution of this high technology product family reaches the Picosecond range ( 1 ps =10–12s = 1.000.000.000.000dth fraction of one second). Addiditonal to a high temporal resolution streak cameras are the only systems allowing to capture the temporal form of multipe signals simultaneously. Combined with a spectrometer a time resolved spectrometrie system can be configured. Streak camera provide high sensitivity to detect weak signals down to single photons.
The Streak Principle
The image of a slit is swept at high speed over a screen. Assuming a constant and precisely defined sweep speed, the screen position can be related to a temporal information. This principle converts the intensity information along the slit into an intensity information along the screen. The spacial information along the slit is maintained. This allows to analyse multipe temporal processes simultaneously.
Technical Evolution
To realise the streak principle a streak tube is applied. Streak tubes are vacuum tube with similar configuration as first generation image intensifiers. Main elements are a photocathode to convert the luminous flux into an electron flux, focusing electrodes and a phoshor screen to re-convert the electron flux into a luminous signal. The particular element separating a streak tube from the simple image intensifier are additional deflection plates allowing to sweep the image over the screen. Successive optimisation of tube geometrie and combined with different sweep generators allows to ovver todays high performance streak cameras.
Since more than 20 years Optronis develops streak cameras. These cameras are synonym for excellence in optical short-time measurement. The Optoscope streak camera family of Optronis meets all requirements of a large range of applications. For particular measuremnets special cameras can be developed.
