Specialised Imaging has released an application note describing how its SIMD8 ultra-high-speed framing camera has been used to record the detonation of high explosives.
The purpose of the experiment was a proof of principle to show that the SIMD8 camera could image the extreme brightness of the explosive fireball with no interframe crosstalk and minimal or no phosphor lag.
The application note describes how 8oz of high explosive was detonated in a blast containment chamber with the SIMD8 sited 3m away looking through a polycarbonate viewing port.
The SIMD8 was programmed to take an eight-frame sequence, at 100,000 frames per second, with an initial delay of 15s and equally spaced interframe times of 10s.
The exposure time for all frames was programmed for 20ns.
Framing data is presented that clearly shows no crosstalk or ghost imaging in either the early or later frames.
Unlike many traditional ultra-fast framing cameras, the optical design of the SIMD8 provides the choice of up to eight separate optical channels without compromising performance or image quality.
Effects such as parallax and shading, inherent in other designs, are eliminated and the high spatial resolution (less than 36lp/mm) is the same from frame to frame and in both axes.
Individual ultra-high resolution intensified CCD detectors, controlled by state-of-the-art electronics, offer almost infinite control over gain and exposure allowing researchers total freedom to capture images of even the most difficult transient phenomena.
