Characterization of a Charge-Coupled Device Photoarray as a Molecular Absorption Spectrophotometric Detector

Recently there has been a great deal of interest in the use of solid-state multichannel detectors as sensors for rapid-scan spectroscopy. The charge-coupled device (CCD) photoarray, not previously characterized for this application, is described. The unit has 1728 elements, arranged linearily, which integrate light over the same time frame; the photo signals are then read serially. The CCD was found to produce signals which are linear with both intensity and integration time. The dark signal at −10°C is 0.1% of saturation for a 10 ms integration time, and the noise level is less than 0.08% of saturation. The wavelength response is in the visible region. The application for rapid-scan spectrophotometry is also discussed.