摘要 |
A photodiode array spectrometer comprises an array (40) of photosensitive elements for receiving a beam of light. Light impinging on a photodiode causes discharging of the associated capacitor. The capacitors are recharged periodically by a charge amplifier via a video line (30) by closing transfer switches (SW1,...,SW 768) associated with the photosensitive elements, respectively. The switches are grouped together in several segments which are independently addressable such that during a recharge scan only selected groups of photodiodes are recharged. The information which segments are to be activated, i.e. which groups of switches are to be closed, is contained in a segment control block (43). An integration control block (46) additionaly permits to adjust the time intervals between successive recharge cycles separately for each selected segment. The invention permits to select regions of interest of the photodiode array for a specific application, whereas other regions are ignored for that application, leading to a reduced data rate with high spectral resolution and sensitivity.
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