| 摘要 |
<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a compact imaging device which has a small power consumption. Ž<P>SOLUTION: It is necessary to sufficiently lower the temperature of an EM-CCD 2 for stabilization when an electronic multiplication factor is high; whereas the necessity becomes low when the electronic multiplication factor is low. When the cooling temperature of the EM-CCD 2 is set to be high, the drive current of a Peltier element 10 is made small and thus the power consumption of the imaging device is lowered. That is, when the electronic multiplication factor is high, it is required to stabilize the EM-CCD 2 by sufficiently lowering the temperature of the EM-CCD in order to keep a stable signal intensity and a good image. When the electronic multiplication factor is low, meanwhile, such a problem does not take place. In an aperture control mode, since the electronic multiplication factor is always kept at its lowest level, it is unnecessary to keep the temperature of the EM-CCD 2 at a lower level. Thus, in an aperture adjustment mode, the power consumption is reduced without causing deterioration of imaging characteristics by setting the temperature of the EM-CCD to be high. Ž<P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT Ž
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