EZstreak Applications

Streak cameras are used to obtain very high temporal resolution of transient photon signals. Temporal bandwidths approaching 1THz are achievable by the very rapid deflection of an image across an output image plane, usually in an electron image converter tube. Typically a one dimensional slice of the radiation source is investigated, defined by a slit at the input to the camera. An image of this slit is swept across the final image plane yielding an output image with spatial information in one dimension and time information in the other.
In an image converter streak tube, which is evacuated, a photo-cathode converts the input photon image into a photo-electron image. The electrons comprising this image are imaged onto a phosphor by an electrostatic lens but on their way pass a deflection structure which is able to deflect the electron image across a phosphor screen. The deflector is driven by a high voltage ramp signal which linearly deflects the image across the phosphor, hence mapping time onto one of the spatial dimensions in the output image. High voltage and high speed electronics generate the electrostatic focussing and deflection voltages, determining such things as the sweep speed, optical sensitivity and aperture time. The image on the phosphor is captured by a CCD camera and is recorded in a computer for analysis later.