Neo 5.5 sCMOS

5.5 Megapixel, -40ºC, 1 e- Noise
Rolling and Global Shutter
Scientific CMOSVACUUM

WARRANTY+5 o C

Ultra Sensitive Imaging

Low Light Imaging

YEAR-40 o C-40oC Vacuum Cooling Lowest dark current
 Lowest hot pixels
 Fan-off capability

Features and Benefits• TE cooling to -40°C
Minimization of dark current and pixel blemish

Vacuum cooled Scientific CMOS with 1 e- readnoise - Rolling and Snapshot exposure• 1 e- read noiseLower detection limit than any CCD

In a unique -40°C vacuum cooled platform, loaded with FPGA intelligence, Andor’s Neo 5.5• 5.5 megapixel sensor format and 6.5 μm pixels
Extremely sharp resolution over a 22 mm field ofview: Ideal for cell microscopy and astronomy

and innovative new technology development.

• Rolling and Global (Snapshot) shutter
Maximum flexibility across all applications• Rapid frame rates
Sustained: 30 fps full frame
Burst: 100 fps full frame• Dual-Gain amplifiers
Extensive dynamic range of 30,000:1 @ 30 fps• UltraVac™ •1
Sustained sensor protection and unequalled
cooling with 5 year warranty

sCMOS camera is designed exclusively to drive highest possible sensitivity from this exciting
Unlike any CMOS or CCD technology to come before it, Neo 5.5 sets radical newbenchmarks in its unique ability to simultaneously deliver highest specifications in sensitivity,
resolution, speed, dynamic range and field-of-view: true scientific imaging, withoutcompromise. Choice of Rolling and Global (Snapshot) exposure mechanisms ensure
maximum application flexibility, the latter providing a ‘freeze frame’ capture capability thatemulates that of an interline CCD.

Specifications Summary•2

Active pixels (W x H)

2560 x 2160 (5.5 Megapixel)

Sensor size

16.6 x 14.0 mm (21.8 mm diagonal)

Pixel size (W x H)

6.5 µmPixel well depth (typical)

30,000 e-

Pixel readout rate (MHz)560, 200

Read noise (min)1 e-• Dynamic Baseline Clamp
Ensures quantitative stability

Maximum cooling-40°C• Software Exposure Events
Rapid software notification via SDK of start / endof exposure synchronization

Maximum burst frame rate

100 fps @ full frame

Readout Modes

Rolling and Snapshot shutter• ROI and pixel binningUser-defined ROI (1 pixel granularity) andhardware binning• NEW GPU Express
Simplify and optimize data transfers from camera
to Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) card tofacilitate accelerated GPU processing as part of
the acquisition pipeline.
• 4 GB on-head memory
Acquire data bursts at frame rates faster than PC
write speed• iCamFast exposure switching• Fan-off capability
Turn off fan for extended periods for zerovibration1

5.5 Megapixel, -40ºC, 1 e- Noise
Rolling and Global Shutter
Scientific CMOS

Neo 5.5 sCMOS
System Specifications•2Sensor type

Front Illuminated Scientific CMOS

Active pixels (W x H)

2560 x 2160 (5.5 Megapixel)

Sensor size

16.6 x 14.0 mm, 21.8 mm diagonal

Pixel size (W x H)

6.5 µm
560 (280 MHz x 2 sensor halves)
200 (100 MHz x 2 sensor halves)

Pixel readout rate (MHz)
Read noise (e-) Median [rms] •3
200 MHz560 MHz

Rolling Shutter
1.0 [1.5]
1.3 [1.7]

Global Shutter
2.3 [2.6]
2.5 [2.8]

Minimum temperature air cooled •4
Minimum temperature coolant

-30ºC
-40ºC

Dark current, e-/pixel/sec •50.015
0.007@ -30°C@ -40°C
Data range

12-bit and 16-bit

Peak Quantum Efficiency

60 %Readout modes

Rolling Shutter and Global (Snapshot) Shutter

System window type

UV-grade fused silica, ‘Broadband VS-NIR’, unwedged

Internal memory buffer size

4 GB

Maximum burst frame rates
2560 x 2160 (full frame)
128 x 128 ROI

100 fps Rolling Shutter, 49 fps Global (Snapshot) Shutter
1,639 fps Rolling Shutter, 716 fps Global (Snapshot) Shutter

Pixel well depth (e-)

30,000

Advanced Performance Specifications•2Maximum dynamic range

30,000:1

Linearity (%, maximum) •6

Better than 99%

MTF (Nyquist @ 555 nm)

45%

Photon Response Non-Uniformity (PRNU)
Half-light range
Low light range< 0.01%<0.1%

Pixel binning

Hardware binning: 2 x 2, 3 x 3, 4 x 4, 8 x 8Pre-defined Region of Interest

2560 x 2160, 2048 x 2048, 1920 x 1080, 512 x 512, 128 x 128

User defined ROI granularity

1 pixel *I/O

External Trigger, Fire, Fire n, Fire All, Fire Any, ArmTrigger modes

Internal, External, External Start, External Exposure, Software Trigger

System Exposure EventsStart / End exposure (row 1), Start / End exposure (row n)•7Hardware timestamp accuracy

25 nsAnti-blooming factor

x 10,000* Minimum ROI size possible is as follows: 16 x 12 in 12-bit mode and 12 x 12 in 16-bit mode.

Maximum Frame Rate Table•8Array Size

Rolling Shutter

Cameralink - 3-tap
Global (Snapshot) Shutter

Burst to 4 GB Internal Memory
Rolling Shutter
Global (Snapshot) Shutter

2560 x 2160 (full frame)

30

30

100

492048 x 2048

393910552

1920 x 1080

79

79

199

97

1392 x 1040

115

101

206101512 x 512374

201419201128 x 128

1,470716

1,639716
2

Neo 5.5 sCMOS

5.5 Megapixel, -40ºC, 1 e- Noise
Rolling and Global Shutter
Scientific CMOS

Dark Signal vs Exposure Time
(Rolling and Global Shutter Modes)

Quantum Efficiency (QE) Curve

70

0.14

60

0.12

500.10Dark Signal (e-)

Quantum efficiency (%)•94030•100.08

0.06

200.04100.02Global Shutter (-40°C)
Rolling Shutter (-40°C)

00.00

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

02Hot Pixels vs Cooling Temperature

46810Exposure (secs)

Wavelength (nm)QE vs Fluorophore Emissions+5 °C-40 °C+5°C-40°C

Comparison of hot pixel blemishes at cooling temperatures of +5°C and-40°C @ 1s exposure time; rolling shutter readout mode.

Have you found what you are looking for?
Do you need higher sensitivity and the widest field of view?
Check out the new Sona Back-illuminated sCMOS camera with 95% QE and a 32 mm field of view.

PCapture extremely large fields of cells and embryos with exceptional clarity.

PReduce excitation power, fluorophore concentrations and exposure times.

3

Neo 5.5 sCMOS

5.5 Megapixel, -40ºC, 1 e- Noise
Rolling and Global Shutter
Scientific CMOS

Creating The Optimum Product for You
Step 1.

Select the camera type and required mounting option
Select the required camera and lens mount option:

CameraType &Mounting
Step 2.

Camera Description

Lens Mount

Part CodeNeo 5.5 Megapixel sCMOS with 3-tap Camera Link

C-mount

NEO-5.5-CL3

Neo 5.5 Megapixel sCMOS with 3-tap Camera Link

F-mount

NEO-5.5-CL3-F

Select an alternative camera window (optional)
The standard window has been selected to satisfy most applications. However, other options are available. The alternative
camera window code must be specified at time of ordering.

CameraWindow
Step 3.

Accessories &Adapters

To view and select other window options please refer to the ‘Camera Windows Supplementary Specification Sheet’ which
gives the transmission characteristics, product codes and procedure for entering the order. Further detailed information on thewindows can be found in the Technical note – ‘Camera Windows: Optimizing for Different Spectral Regions’.

Select the required accessories and adapters
Description

Order CodeRe-circulator for enhanced cooling performance

XW-RECR

Oasis 160 Ultra compact chiller unit (tubing to be ordered separately)

ACC-XW-CHIL-160

6 mm tubing options for ACC-XW-CHIL-160(2x2.5 m or 2x5 m lengths)

ACC-6MM-TUBING-2X2.5/
ACC-6MM-TUBING-2X5M

C-mount to Nikon F-mount adapter

OA-CNAF

C-mount to Olympus F-mount adapter

OA-COFM

C-mount to T-mount adapter

OA-CTOT

Auto extension tubes (set of 3) for Canon AF

OA-ECAF

Auto extension tubes (set of 3) for C-mountOA-ECMT

OA-ENAF Auto extension tubes (set of 3) for Nikon AF

OA-ENAF

5 meter Camera Link connector cable.

ACC-ASE-02992

10 meter active Camera Link connector cable, including power supply.

ACC-ASE-06931

30 meter fibre-optic extender solution for use with Neo 5.5

ACC-NEOFOX-3TAP-30M

100 meter fibre-optic extender solution for use with Neo 5.5

ACC-NEOFOX-3TAP-100

PC Workstation for up to 100 fps continuous spooling to hard drives, acquiring up to120,000 12-bit full resolution images: Dell T7910XL, 2.6 GHz Eight Core, 8 GB RAM, 4 x250GB SSD hard drive configured in RAID 0.

WKST-1 WIN

PC Workstation for up to 100 fps continuous spooling to RAM, acquiring up to 6,000
12-bit full resolution images: Dell T5810, 3.5 GHz Quad Core, 64 GB RAM.

WKST-3 WIN

For further information on PC workstations for the Neo, please refer to the technical note PC Specifications for sCMOS

Step 4.

SoftwareSelect the required software
The Neo 5.5 also requires at least one of the following software options:
Solis Imaging A 32-bit and fully 64-bit enabled application for Windows (7, 8, 8.1 and 10) offering rich functionality for dataacquisition and processing. AndorBasic provides macro language control of data acquisition, processing, display and export.
Andor iQ A comprehensive multi-dimensional imaging software package. Offers tight synchronization of camera with acomprehensive range of microscopy hardware, along with comprehensive rendering and analysis functionality. Modular
architecture for best price/performance package on the market. Compatible with 32-bit Windows (7, 8, 8.1 and 10).
Andor SDK3 Andor’s 32-bit and 64-bit Software Developers Kit DLL allows you to control Andor sCMOS cameras from yourown application. Available for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows (7, 8, 8.1 and 10) and Linux.
GPU Express Andor GPU Express library has been created to simplify and optimize data transfers from camera to a CUDAenabled NVidia Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) card to facilitate accelerated GPU processing as part of the acquisitionpipeline. Integrates easily with Andor SDK3 for Windows.

4Neo 5.5 sCMOS

5.5 Megapixel, -40ºC, 1 e- Noise
Rolling and Global Shutter
Scientific CMOS

Product Drawings
Dimensions in mm [inches]
Weight: 3.4 kg [7 lb 8 oz]

26-way D-type pinouts
1

External Trigger

2

Reserved

3GND

4Reserved

5

Reserved

6GND

7Reserved

8Fire9

AUX_OUT_110Reserved

11Reserved

12

Reserved

Connecting to the Neo 5.5

13Reserved

14ReservedCamera ControlConnector type: 3 meter Camera Link 3-tap (longer cable lengthsavailable as accessories).

15

Reserved

16

Reserved

17Reserved

18

GND+5 °C

19+5V Output

20

GND

21

Reserved

22

Reserved23

AUX_OUT_2

24

Arm

25

GND

26

GND

TTL / LogicConnector type: 26 way D Type with TTL I/Os for External Trigger,
Fire Pulse and Arm
Firmware updates through USB
Minimum cable clearance required at rear of camera 90 mmRegulatory Compliance
Compliant with the requirements of the EU EMC and LV Directives
through testing to EN 61326-1 and EN 61010-1
External power supply PSE-approved*Aux_Out_1 is configurable as Fire, Fire n, Fire All or Fire
Any. Refer to the Neo 5.5 hardware manual.

5

Neo 5.5 sCMOS

5.5 Megapixel, -40ºC, 1 e- Noise
Rolling and Global Shutter
Scientific CMOS

Order Today
Need more information? At Andor we are committed to finding
the correct solution for you. With a dedicated team of technicaladvisors, we are able to offer you one-to-one guidance andtechnical support on all Andor products. For a full listing of ourregional sales offices, please see: andor.com/contact
Our regional headquarters are:Europe 				Japan
Belfast, Northern Ireland 			Tokyo
Phone +44 (28) 9023 7126			
Phone +81 (3) 6732 8968
Fax +44 (28) 9031 0792			
Fax +81 (3) 6732 8939
North America				China
Concord, MA, USA 				Beijing
Phone +1 (860) 290 9211			
Phone +86 (10) 8271 9066
Fax +1 (860) 290 9566			
Fax +86 (10) 8271 9055
Items shipped with your camera
1x Camera Link card and 3 meter connector
cable.
1x Andor ACZ-02991: 3m Multi I/O timing
cable, offering External Trigger, Arm, Fire,
Aux_Out_1 and Aux_Out_2
1x 3m USB 2.0 cable Type A to Type B
1x Power supply with mains cable
1x Quick launch guide
1x CD containing Andor user guides
1x Individual system performance sheet

Footnotes: Specifications are subject to change without notice1.

Assembled in a state-of-the-art Class 1,000 clean room facility, Andor’s UltraVac™ vacuum process
combines a permanent hermetic vacuum seal (no o-rings), with a stringent protocol to minimize out-gassing,including use of proprietary materials. Outgassing is the release of trapped gases that would otherwise provehighly problematic for sensor longevity.
2. Figures are typical unless otherwise stated.
3. Readout noise is defined as the median over the sensor area excluding any regions of blemishes. It is acombination of sensor readout noise and A/D noise.
4. Specified minimum air cooled temperature assumes ambient temperature of 25°C. Specified minimum
temperature with coolant assumes coolant temperature of 16°C.
5. Dark current measurement is taken as a median over the sensor area excluding any regions of blemishes inRolling Shutter mode.
6. Linearity is measured from a plot of Signal vs. Exposure Time over the full dynamic range.
7. Software Exposure Events provide rapid software notification (SDK only) of the start and end of acquisition,
useful for tight synchronization to moving peripheral devices e.g. Z-stage.
8. Maximum speed at which the camera can acquire images at full resolution and a range of sub-array sizes.
The tables present (a) frame rates which can be sustained until the limit imposed by the storage capacity; (b)frame rates achieved during burst to 4 GB on-head camera memory. Note that the write speed of hard drive
and additional processing overheads can impact these figures. See technical note entitled ‘PC Specifications
for sCMOS’ for further detail on speed tests, PC recommendations and sustained acquisition performance.
9. Quantum efficiency of the sensor at 20°C as supplied by the sensor manufacturer.
10. Total darksignal in Global Shutter mode carries an additional fractional fixed ‘Global Shutter Darksignal’(GSD) contribution that is imposed during readout and is therefore independent of exposure time. GSD isequal to 0.11 e- @ -30°C; 0.045 e- @ -40°C. Darksignal for a given exposure time in Global Shutter modeis thus calculated by (dark current x exposure) + GSD. GSD represents the offset between the two curves
shown for -40°C.

Minimum Computer Requirements:• 2.4 GHz Quad Core + 4 GB RAM (1600MHz DDR3)

Operating and Storage Conditions• Hard drive: Minimum 250 MB/sec continuous write
for Spooling• Relative Humidity: <70% (non-condensing)• PCIe x4 slot for Frame Grabber card
• Windows (7, 8, 8.1 and 10) or Linux• USB 2.0 (for future firmware upgrades): Intel
82801 (or equivalent) I/O controller hub to provide
interface for USB 2.0* Refer to technical note: ‘PC Specifications forsCMOS’** Note: Andor supply PC workstations for Neo, seepage 4• Operating Temperature: 0ºC to 40ºC ambient
FM40523

EMS91062

OHS502497• Storage Temperature: -25ºC to 55ºC
Power Requirements• 100 - 240 VAC, 50 - 60 Hz• Power Consumption:
Camera alone (Typ./Max): 30 W/60 W
Camera and external PSU (Typ./Max):
34 W/71 W

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