Tucson, AZ — Photometrics® (www.photomet.com) is proud to announce that its popular QuantEM:512SC delivers the lowest read noise available for an EMCCD camera. In addition to industry-leading read noise performance, the QuantEM:512SC is still the only scientific camera to offer electron-multiplying (EM) gain with true quantitative stability across 16 bits at 10-MHz, 5-MHz, and 1.25-MHz operation speeds. The QuantEM:512SC is ideal for applications such as intracellular ion ratio imaging, fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP), total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF), fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), and confocal microscopy.

“Now that we have manufactured a significant number of QuantEM:512SC cameras, there is enough data to fully document the considerable read noise advantage afforded by this innovative imaging platform,” reports Deepak Sharma, QuantEM® product manager. “Based on QC data for the latest 80 QuantEM cameras built, we have reduced our typical read noise specification, measured at 10 MHz, from 60 electrons to 45 electrons. This 25% improvement means that less voltage has to be applied to the EM register to achieve subelectron read noise. In turn, the ability to achieve subelectron read noise whilst minimizing EM-related noise factors leads to higher signal-to-noise ratios.”

Patent-pending ACE™ technology and an intelligent FPGA design enable the QuantEM:512SC to provide voltage-clock timing resolution over 12 times more precise than other EMCCD cameras, as well as unsurpassed bias stability, extremely accurate 16-bit measurements, self-calibrating EM gain linearization to 1000x with a linear EM gain slider, and the lowest generation rate of dark background events. Furthermore, the camera’s intelligent FPGA design continually controls EM gain to an unprecedented level and ensures there is no deviation from the detection device’s accurate, quantitative, factory-set parameters.

The QuantEM:512SC features a back-illuminated, frame-transfer EMCCD for >90% peak quantum efficiency and high-speed operation. Owing to the camera’s exceptional sensitivity, very short exposure times are possible, thereby permitting more rapid data acquisition and allowing greater temporal resolution in experiments. An industry-leading Turbo 1394™ (FireWire) interface facilitates quick, easy camera connectivity.