Non-browning lenses for high-definition CMOS sensors

With recent advances in technology – CMOS sensors are being developed capable of withstanding higher levels of radiation than was previously possible making them a viable option for a much larger range of nuclear applications. In order to take advantage of the higher-resolution colour images provided by a CMOS sensor, more and more nuclear camera manufacturers are looking to use them as an alternative to traditional tubes. As a result – Resolve Optics has noted a growing demand for custom non-browning lenses optimised for the large variety of different formats that CMOS sensors are produced in.

Rob Watkinson, sales manager at Resolve Optics, said: “To fulfil this demand from different manufacturers of radiation tolerant, colour CMOS cameras we developed a 10x non-browning zoom lens design to provide better HD colour images for nuclear applications. To date, we have produced versions of this non-browning lens optimised for ¼-inch, 1/3-inch and 2/3-inch CMOS sensor formats.”

He added ”Our HD zoom lens design uses non-browning glasses, specially selected to produce clear sharp images free of the strong yellow tint that has traditionally been a limiting issue when using non-browning lenses on colour sensors. The glass used in these lenses can withstand long-term exposure to radiation up to an accumulative dose of one hundred million rad and temperatures up to 85°C without transmission loss.  All Resolve Optics non-browning lenses provide high image resolution and minimum geometric distortion from 400 to 750nm.”