LOT-QuantumDesign
Our partner Andor Oxford Instruments

EMCCD cameras

iXon Ultra from Andor Technology

For ultra-sensitive imaging applications, Andor Technology offers the EMCCD cameras iXon Ultra 888 (1024 x 1024 x 13 µm pixels) and iXon Ultra 897 (512 x 512 x 16 µm pixels) with USB interface. The EMCCD sensor is placed in a sealed vacuum chamber so that temperatures down to -100 °C are achieved with thermo-electrical cooling.

Features
  • Effective read noise < 1 electron with electron multiplying gain
  • Two EMCCD sensors formats (1024 x 1024 x 13 µm , 512 x 512 x 16 µm)
  • Rapid frame rates up to 26 frames/s (iXon Ultra 888), 56 frames/s (iXon Ultra 897); faster frame of several hundred frames/s for subimages and with pixel binning
  • Several back illuminated sensors with > 90% quantum efficiency optimized for UV, VIS, and NIR
  • Thermo-electrical cooling of EMCCD sensor down to -100 °C for negligible dark current

Further information

The iXon Ultra maintains all the advanced performance attributes that have defined the industry-leading iXon range such as deep vacuum cooling to -100 °C, extremely low spurious noise, and Andor’s patented EM gain recalibration technology (EMCAL alongside anti-ageing protection. RealGain provides quantitative linear and real EM gain calibration independent of sensor temperatures. Andor’s ‘overclocked’ vertical shift speeds minimize both clock induced charge noise and vertical smear during frame transfer. New optically centered crop mode unlocks unparalleled frame rate performance from centrally located subimages. Count Convert functionality allows real time data acquisition in units of electrons or incident photons. The iXon Ultra is designed to be the most flexible yet easy to use EMCCD on the market optimizable for a wide variety of application requirements in a single click via OptAcquire. Additional features of the iXon Ultra include plug and play USB connectivity, a lower noise conventional CCD mode and an additional Camera Link output offering the unique ability to directly access data for 'on the fly' processing ideally suited to data intensive applications.

The highly innovative iXon Ultra 888 megapixel EMCCD camera offers single photon sensitivity across a large field of view at 26 fps. Building on a rich history of first to market innovation, the iXon Ultra 888 represents a massive performance boost for the largest available EMCCD sensor as well as the first USB 3.0 enabled EMCCD camera. The iXon Ultra 888 has been fundamentally re-engineered to facilitate a 3x acceleration of the pixel readout speed to an unprecedented 30 MHz whilst maintaining quantitative stability propelling the full frame performance to video rate. With a 1024 x 1024 sensor format and 13 µm pixel size, the resolving power, field of view and unparalleled speed of the iXon Ultra 888 render it the most attractive and versatile EMCCD option for demanding applications.

The iXon Ultra platform takes the popular 512 x 512 frame transfer sensor and overclocks readout to 17 MHz pushing speed performance to an outstanding 56 full frames/s whilst maintaining single photon sensitivity and quantitative stability throughout.

Specifications

Applications

Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC)
Single ion and molecule detection
Astronomy (adaptive optics, lucky and speckle imaging)
Raman imaging
Fluorescence and luminescence imaging
Microscopy (fluorescence, TIRF, super-resolution)

Downloads

iXon brochure
Liquid cooling system EXT-440
Software for Andor cameras and spectropgraphs
UltraVac permanent vacuum head and performance longevity
Camera windows
Cameras for astronomy
Optical etaloning technical note
Remote camera server

Videos

Webinar EMCCD Cameras
Webinar Scientific Cameras Part 1
Webinar Scientific Cameras Part 2
Webinar Polarimetry with Andor EMCCD and sCMOS Cameras
Measuring Entropy Entanglement in a Trapped Ion Quantum Simulator
Andors Cameras for Observational Astronomy Technical Aspects and Applications
Webinar Optical Tools for the Characterisation of Plasma and their Dynamics
Webinar The Impact of EMCCDs on Speckle Imaging & Cameras for Astronomy
Webinar Unlocking The Mysteries Of The Formation Of Our Solar System
Remote Camera Server Online Seminar

Reference customers

Title Author(s) Institute Year Detector/Spectrograph
Quantum optics

Magneto-optical trapping of mercury to search for physics beyond the standard model

T. Groh,
Q. Lavigne,
S. Stellmer

Institute of Physics,
University of Bonn,
Germany

2021 iXon DU885  KCS-VP
Scalable tests of fundamental physics with multiple trapped Ytterbium ions H. A. Fürst,
C.-H. Yeh,
Laura S. Dreissen,
T. E. Mehlstäubler
QUEST (Institute for Quantum Metrology), PTB Braunschweig, Germany 2021 iXon DU897 UCS-BB
Multi-Ion optical clock with Indium and Ytterbium ion J. Kiethe,
T. Mehlstäubler
QUEST (Institute for Quantum Metrology), PTB Braunschweig, Germany 2019 iXon DU897 UCS-UVB
Optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) in nitrogen vacancy (NV) ensemble G. Wolff,
F. Jelezko
Institute for Quantum Optics, University Ulm, Germany 2019 iXon DU897 UCS-BV
Real-time imaging of single trapped Mg+ ions at 280 nm F. Hakelberg,
P. Kiefer,
L. Nitzsche,
V. Vierhub-Lorenz,
M. Wittemer, H. Kalis,
M. Mielenz,
U. Warring,
T. Schaetz
Institute of Physics,
University of Freiburg,
Germany
2016 iXon DU888 UCS-UVB
Enhancement of the nonlinear optical response at multiple wavelengths in metal nanoparticle multilayers W. Brullot,
S. Van Cleuvenbergen,
T. Swusten,
M. K. Vanbel,
T. Verbiest
Molecular Imaging and Photonics, Department of Chemistry, University of Leuven,
Belgium
2015

iXon DU897 DCS-EX
Bruker SureSpectrum 500is-sm

Imaging of single 9Be+ ions in surface-electrode traps for quantum information processing G. Zarantonello,
M. Wahnschaffe,
H. Hahn,
A. Bautista-Salvador,
M. Kohnen,
C. Ospelkaus
QUEST Institute for Experimental Quantum Metrology, PTB, Braunschweig, Germany and
Institute for Quantum Optics, Leibniz Universität Hannover,  Germany
2015 iXon DU885 KC-VP2
High-resolution imaging of dysprosium Bose-Einstein condensates H. Kadau,
M. Schmitt,
M. Wenzel,
I. Ferrier-Barbut,
T. Pfau
5th Institute of Physics, University of Stuttgart, Germany 2015 iXon DU897 ECS-EXF
Ultracold Fermi-Fermi Mixtures of 6Li and 40K R. S. Lous,
M. Jag,
I. Fritsche,
R. Grimm
Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information,
Austrian Academy of Sciences, and Institute for Experimental Physics
2015 Luca DL604M-OEM3
Observing giant atoms towards optically imaging Rydberg atoms with single particle sensitivity with an EMCCD camera V. Gavryusev1,
G. Günter1,
G. Zuern1,
A. Signoles1,
M. Ferreira-Cao1,
G. Faraoni1,
H. Schempp1,
S. Whitlock1,
M. Weidemüller1,2
1Physics Institute, University of Heidelberg, Germany
2University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China
2015 iXon DU897 UCS-EXF
Single-shot imaging of a Bose- Einstein condensed photon gas T. Damm,
J. Schmitt,
F. Vewinger,
J. Klaers,
M. Weitz
Institute for Applied Physics, University of Bonn, Germany 2015 iXon DU897 UCS-BV
Cosmology in the lab using laser-cooled ions C. Duncan Andor Technology, Belfast, United Kingdom 2014 iXon DU897 DCS-UVB
Single ion imaging and state detection for quantum networks R. Maiwald,
T. Ballance,
H. M. Meyer,
M. Köhl
Physics Institute, University of Bonn, Germany 2014 Luca DL604M-OEM3
High precision spectroscopy using quantum logic F. Wolf,
F. Gebert,
Y. Wan,
J. C. Heip,
P. O. Schmidt 
QUEST Institute for Experimental Quantum Metrology, Physkalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt Braunschweig, Germany 2014 iXon DV885 LC-VP2
A trapped-ion-based quantum byte with 10-5 cross-talk Ch. Piltz,
Th. Sriarunothai,
 A. F. Varón,
Ch. Wunderlich
Institute of Physics, University of Siegen, Germany 2014 iXon DU897 UCS-EXF
Quantum imaging finally saves Schrödinger’s cat M. Barszczewski,
C. Duncan
Andor Technology, Belfast, United Kingdom 2014 Luca DL604M-OEM3
Direct beam diagnostics in spontaneous parametric down conversion photon pair sources M. Jachura,
M. Pacholski,
M. Karpinski
Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Poland 2014 Luca DL604M-OEM3
Single neutral atoms as impurities in a BEC F. Kindermann,
M. Bauer,
T. Lausch,
D. Mayer,
F. Schmidt,
A. Widera
Physics Department, Kaiserslautern University, Germany 2014 iXon DU885-KCS-VP2
iXon DU897-ECS-BV 
In-trap imaging of strongly interacting Rydberg gases H. Kadau,
H. Nguyen,
M. Schlagmüller,
T. Pfau
5th Institute of Physics, University of Stuttgart, Germany 2014 iXon DU897 ECS-EXF
Ion quantum logic optical clock J. B. Wübbena,
S. Amairi,
N. Scharnhorst,
I. Leroux,
S. Hannig,
P. O. Schmidt
QUEST Institute for Experimental Quantum Metrology, Physkalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt Braunschweig, Germany 2014 iXon DU885 KC-VP2
Feynman’s double-slit experiment preserved T. Juffmann et al. Vienna Center for Science and Technology, VCQ, Vienna University , Austria 2013 iXon DV885-KCS-VP2
Towards Rydberg excitation of laser-cooled 40Ca+ ions T. Feldker,
L. Pelzer,
M. Stappel,
P. Bachor,
J. Walz,
F. Schmidt-Kaler
Institute of Physics, University of Mainz, Germany 2013 iXon DU897-ECS-BBB
Ytterbium Quantum gases in optical lattices S. Dörscher,
A. Thobe,
B. Hundt,
A. Kochanke,
T. Ponath,
N. Petersen,
A. Skottke,
C. Becker,
K. Sengstock
Institute of Laser Physics, University of Hamburg, Germany 2013 iXon DU888 DC-QBB
Quantum degenerate erbium atoms K. Aikawa,
A. Frisch,
M. Mark,
R. Grimm,
F. Ferlaino
Institute for Experimental Physics, University of Innsbruck, Austria 2013 iXon DU897-ECS-QBB
Spectroscopy measurements of 40Ca+ Ions in a surface ion trap A. Bautista-Salvador,
J. Welzel,
N. Kurz,
R. Gerritsma,
F. Schmidt-Kaler
Institute of Physics, University of Mainz, Germany 2012 iXon DU897 ECS-BBB
An ultra-low light detector for single atom experiments in optical lattices R. Reimann,
A. Alberti,
W. Alt,
D. Meschede
Applied Physics, University of Bonn, Germany 2012 iXon DU897 DCS-BV
Detection of single 172Yb+-Ions in a microstructured Paul trap D. Kaufmann,
E. Asenwar,
T. Baig,
T. Collath,
P. Kaufmann,
M. Johanning,
Ch. Wunderlich
Institute of Physics, University of Siegen, Germany 2011 iXon DU897 DCS-UVB
iXon DU897 DCS-BBB
Observation of spatial patterns and accurate atom number estimations in spinor Bose-Einstein condensates M. Scherer Institute of Quantum Optics, University of Hannover, Germany 2010 iXon DV885 KCS-VP2
When image noise is your friend S. Foelling Institute of Physics, University of Mainz, Germany 2008 iXon DV885 JCS-VP2
Ultracold atoms and molecules in optical lattices N. Syassen Quantum Dynamics, Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Garching, Germany 2008 iXon DV887 DCS-FI1
Bessel-Type Interference Patterns Detected in Single Photon Regime R. Grunwald,
M. Bock
Max Born Institute of Nonlinear Optics and Ultrafast Spectroscopy, Berlin, Germany 2007 iXon DV885 LC-VP2
Single ion detection on a planar chip trap T. Lee,
H. Häffner,
R. Clark
Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Innsbruck, Austria, and Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA 2007 iXon DV885 LC-VP2
Bose Einstein Condensation: Seeing from One to One Million Atoms P. Griffin,
M. Chapman,
C. Coates
Institute of Technology Georgia, Atlanta, USA, and Andor Technology, Belfast, United Kingdom 2006 iXon DU8852
Quantum register with neutral caesium atoms L. Förster Applied Physics, University of Bonn, Germany 2005 iXon DV887 DCS-FI1
Fluorescence, Luminescence
Time-resolved 3D confocal fluorescence microscopy M. Schellenberg,
J. Napier,
E. Peev,
W. Neu
Institute for Lasers and Optics, University of Applied Sciences Emden/Leer, Germany 2017 iXon DU888 UCS-BV
Comparison of the morphology between isolated polymer chains and aggregates by using excitation polarization spectroscopy T. Stangl Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics 2015 iXon DU897 DCS-BV
3D tracking of single molecules using spatial light modulation O. Nevskyi,
A. Oppermann, A. Purohit,
D. Wöll
Institute for Physical Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, Germany 2015 iXon DU897 UCS-BV
Temperature measurements of evaporating micro-droplets J. Palmer,
R. Kneer
Institute of Heat and Mass Transfer, RWTH Aachen University, Germany 2015 iXon DU888 DC-UVB
iXon DU888 EC-UVB
Fluorescence imaging of nanostructured materials T. Hadler,
A. Mews
Physical Chemistry, University of Hamburg, Germany 2014 iXon DU897 UCS-EXF
Shamrock SR-303i-B
Following single diffusing conjugated polymers in swollen plastic J. Vogelsang Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, University of Regensburg, Germany 2012 iXon DU897-DCS-BV
Electroluminescence (EL) analysis for a qualitative evaluation of photovoltaic modules S. Ambrosius,
J. Wittfoth
Centrosolar Sonnenstromfabrik GmbH, Wismar, Germany 2011 Luca DL604M-OEM3
Single Molecule Spectroscopy using the Luca-EMCCD platform C. Dosche,
D. Hill
Insitute of Physical Chemistry, University of Potsdam, Germany 2010 Luca DL604M-OEM3
Using EMCCD Cameras for high-resolution Photoswitching Microscopy G. Wiebusch Institute of Applied Laser Physics and Laser Spectroscopy, University of Bielefeld, Germany 2009 iXon DV887 DCS-BV1
iXon DU897 DCS-BV
iXon DU860 ECS-BV5
iXon DU888 EC-BV
Defocused Imaging of Single Emitters in Photonic Crystals R. Wagner Institute  of Experimental Physics, University of Leipzig, Germany 2008 iXon DV885 LC-VP2
Two-Photon Fluorescence for Detecting Hot Spots on Metallic Nanostructures P. van der Walle,
L. Kuipers,
J. L. Herek
AMOLF, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 2007 iXon DV885 LC-VP2
Astronomy
High speed imaging with EMCCDs at the 2m-Alfred-Jensch-telescope E. Guenther Thüringer Landessternwarte, Carl-Schwarzschild Observatory, Tautenburg, Germany 2020 iXon DU888 UCS-BV
Amateur astrophotography using the Luca-R EMCCD camera C. Dosche Oldenburg, Germany 2014 Luca DL604M-VP3
Dual-Beam Imaging Polarimetry of Circumstellar Events M. Rodenhuis Astronomical Institute, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands 2010 iXon DU897 ECS-BV
Astrophotography with next generation EMCCD cameras C. Dosche Potsdam, Germany 2009 Luca DL658M-OEM3
Telescope off-axis Guiding with EMCCD Camera Z. Sodnik European Space Agency (ESA), Noordwijk, The Netherlands 2008 iXon DV885 JCS-VP2
AstraLux: Die Bildschärfe des Weltraumteleskops Hubble auch am Erdboden erreicht! S. Hippler,
K. Jäger,
J. Staude
Max Planck Institut for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany 2006 iXon DV887 DCS-UVB1
Biophysics
Use of EMCCD camera for Brillouin spectroscopy S. Reiß Institute of Physics, University of Rostock, Germany 2013 iXon DU888 DC-BV
Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering for the Assessment of Biomolecule-Nanoparticle- Interactions J. S. Gebauer,
S. Grass
Institute of Physical Chemistry, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany 2012 Luca DL604M-VP3
EMCCD based Single Photon Emission Microscope System for I-125 Imaging in Small Animals L. J. Meng Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, USA 2007 iXon DF897-FB
Monitoring single antibody binding events P. Tinnefeld,
S. Scheffler,
J. Vogelsang,
H. Neuweiler,
M. Sauer
Applied Laser Physics and Laser Spectroscopy, University of Bielefeld, Germany 2006 iXon DV887 DCS-BV1
Fluorescence Spectral Imaging of Individual Pigment-Protein Complexes C. Hofmann,
M. Richter,
E. Lang,
J. Köhler
Institute of Experimental Physics IV, University of Bayreuth, Germany 2005 iXon DV8871
Plasma
Measuring ion temperatures and helium densities in the hot core of a nuclear fusion reactor using sCMOS and EMCCD cameras R. J. E. Jaspers Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands 2014 iXon DU888 DC-EX
Neo DC152 QC-FI4
Analysis of the stability and behavior of cold atmospheric behavior of cold atmospheric pressure microplasma jets in argon J. Benedikt,
B. Barwe
Coupled Plasma-Solid State Systems, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany 2012 Luca DL604M-OEM-UV3
X-ray
EMCCD based Single Photon Emission Microscope System for I-125 Imaging in Small Animals L. J. Meng Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, USA 2007 iXon DF897-FB
Shadowgraphy
Low-light imaging of structures in optically dense media F. Mathieu,
M. A. Reddemann,
R. Kneer
Institute of Heat and Mass Transfer, RWTH Aachen, Germany 2011 iXon DU888 EC-UVB
Wavefront
Nonlinear wavefront autocorrelation of ultrashort wavepackets M. Bock,
R. Grunwald
Max Born Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short-Pulse Spectroscopy, Berlin, Germany 2013 iXon DU885-KCS-VP2
Spectroscopy
Enhancement of the nonlinear optical response at multiple wavelengths in metal nanoparticle multilayers W. Brullot,
S. Van Cleuvenbergen,
T. Swusten,
M. K. Vanbel,
T. Verbiest
Molecular Imaging and Photonics, Department of Chemistry, University of Leuven,
Belgium
2015

iXon DU897 DCS-EX
Bruker SureSpectrum 500is-sm

Characterization of ultra-short laser pulses K. Sperlich1,
B. Seifert2,
H. Stolz1
1Institute of Physics, University of Rostock, Germany
2Facultad de Física, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

 

2014 iXon DU888 DC-BBB
Automatic spatial refinement for fast and precise acquisition of single particle spectra A.Henkel,
C. Sönnichsen
Physical Chemistry, University of Mainz, Germany 2014 iXon DU888-EC-BV
Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering for the Assessment of Biomolecule-Nanoparticle- Interactions J. S. Gebauer,
S. Grass
Institute of Physical Chemistry, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany 2012 Luca DL604M-VP3
Improving time resolution of plasmonic spectra acquiring I. Ament,
C. Sönnichsen
Institute of Physical Chemistry, University of Mainz, Germany 2012 iXon DV885 KCS-VP2
Specim ImSpector V8
A hybrid Approach to Build up Photonic Device S. Schietinger,
O. Benson
Department of Physics, Humboldt University Berlin, Germany 2009 iXon DV885 LC-VP2
iDus DU401A-UVB
Acton SpectraPro 500

Remarks:

1 iXon 887 replaced by iXon 897
2 iXon 885 replaced by iXon 888
3 Not available anymore, replaced by iXon 897 and iXon 888
4 New part number of DC152 QC-FI: Neo-5.5-CL3
5 Not available anymore

Contact

Christian Iser
Christian Iser
Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Bremen, Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Markus Krause
Markus Krause
Berlin, Brandenburg, Sachsen-Anhalt, Sachsen, Thueringen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland
Dr. Thorsten Pieper
Dr. Thorsten Pieper
Bavaria, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Austria

Contact

Quantum Design GmbH

Breitwieserweg 9
64319 Pfungstadt
Germany

Phone:+49 6157 80710-0
Fax:+49 6157 807109
E-mail:germanyqd-europe.com
Christian IserProduct Manager Andor
+49 6157 80710-690
Write e-mail

Markus KrauseProduct Manager Andor
+49 6157 80710-558
Write e-mail

Dr. Thorsten PieperProduct Manager Andor
+49 6157 80710-754
Write e-mail