CINEMAX-II - A UV SENSITIVE IMAGE INTENSIFIER FOR COMBUSTION RESEARCH

A totally new approach has been taken to develop an image intensifier for use in front of high speed rotating prism and image converter came ras at framing rates up to 1 million pictures per second. Cinemax II i s a high brilliance image intensifier which can also record UV radiati on down to 180 nm, increasing the scope of the automotive engineer inv estigating the combustion process. Normally it has wt been possible to use an image intensifier in front of high speed cameras because relat ively long phosphor decay times have resulted in image retention. Sequ entially recorded images of fast transients become smeared, resulting in poor resolution and contrast. Cinemax II is gated on at a frequency of 100 Hz to facilitate setting up and wide aperture critical focussi ng. Variable gain allows the image brightness to be adjusted to satisf y different subject lighting conditions. In operate mode the gate on p eriod can be readily synchronized to the event and camera to ensure op timum results are achieved and safety thresholds are not exceeded. Cin emax II has been used successfully with the Imacon 792, Photec and Hys peed cine cameras for combustion and plasma research.