SCMOS

sCMOS ("scientific Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor") is a technology based on next-generation CMOS Image Sensor (CIS) design and fabrication techniques. sCMOS image sensors offer extremely low noise, rapid frame rates, wide dynamic range, high quantum efficiency, high resolution, and a large field of view simultaneously in one image.
History.
The new sCMOS technology was launched in 2009 during the "Laser World of Photonics" fair in Munich. The companies Andor Technology, Fairchild Imaging and PCO Imaging developed the technology for image sensors as a joint venture.
Technical details.
Prior to the introduction of the technology, scientists were limited to using either CCD or EMCCD cameras, both of which had their own set of technical limitations. While back-illuminated electron-multiplying CCD (EMCCD) cameras are optimum for certain uses that require the lowest noise and dark currents, sCMOS technology, with its higher pixel count and lower cost, can be the choice for a wide range of high-precision applications. sCMOS devices can capture data in a global-shutter “snapshot” mode over all the pixels or rectangular subsets of pixels, and can also operate in a rolling-shutter mode.
The cameras are available with a monochrome sCMOS image sensors or with RGB sCMOS image sensors. With sCMOS, digital information for each frame is generated rapidly and with an improved low-light image quality. The sCMOS sensor's low read noise and larger area provides a low-noise, large field-of-view (FOV) image that enables researchers to scan across a sample and capture high-quality images.
In practice.
The New York University School of Medicine uses sCMOS cameras for their research. They were used to study biological molecules and processes in real-time at nanometer scale. Such cameras were also in use in astronomy and microscopy.