2. DTC/CCD strips and dies

Historically, prior to the early 1980s, the only detectors used for imaging were vacuum-operated devices. One example is the vidicon, which was used in its standard target or silicon target versions, on the one hand, and in its electromagnetically scanned or electrostatically scanned versions, on the other. Today, this type of cumbersome device, operating in a vacuum and controlled by high voltages, is no longer of practical interest for imaging in the visible-very near-IR range, having been replaced by solid-state matrix sensors (CCD, CMOS). Only a few infrared models remain (PbS target, up to 2.2 µm wavelength).

That's why we're going to focus on CCD detectors in this section.

Photodiode arrays have long been used mainly for measurement purposes. To be used for imaging, a matrix must have at least 500 × 500, i.e. 250,000 photodiodes. As...