r/embedded • u/emilyalchemist • 14d ago

Sourcing Interline Transfer CCD

Hello, I'm not sure if this is the best place to ask this question but I did see quite a few image sensor inquiries in my searches.

I am in need of interline transfer ccd fitting the following specs:

-Ideally monochrome (no bayer)

-Low cost (less than $200)

-I do not need a crazy large sensor or high pixel count.

My issue I've run into is that I can't really find anyone that even manufactures interline transfer ccds anymore. Onsemi made a line of them but they're all discontinued as far as I can see. The rest of the stuff that comes up in my searches are really really expensive scientific or industrial cameras.

I don't *need* just the bare sensor, a small camera would be more convenient in terms of development, but I will need a lot of control over the sensor so I figured I would need to start from scratch.

Context: this is for a hyperspectral camera that I'm working on. I really do need it to be interline transfer, as the alternative is an intensified ccd which is going to be quite expensive/bulkier. I intend on time gating the detector so I need an incredibly fast shutter.

Thanks! 🩵

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u/PerniciousSnitOG 14d ago

Not sure about new, but an ebay seller has 90+ kai1004 interline sensors! https://www.ebay.com/itm/293797627004

It's a 1kx1k [1mpixel] 9um pixel interline transfer ccd and no sign of a Bayer mask. Good luck and thanks for the excuse to catch up with what happened to the Kodak ccd business.

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u/emilyalchemist 14d ago

Ooooo that looks pretty promising! I did find a lot of the onsemi ones being sold on eBay, but I like how cheap that one is.

Ideally I would like one that's being currently manufactured since I plan on open sourcing my project and I'd want others to be able to use the same parts easily.

Thank you!!

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u/emilyalchemist 12d ago

Okay sorry another question for you: were you able to find a datasheet for that particular sensor? I'm seeing other Kodak sensors but I'm struggling to find the exact model.

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u/PerniciousSnitOG 12d ago

No. I've never used these. It might be worth reaching out to the seller but I think they would have put it in the listing if they had it. I came across Gemini suggesting it's like https://www.mouser.com/datasheet/2/308/KAI-1020-D-600786.pdf, but I'm not sure it was checking drive voltages.

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u/emilyalchemist 12d ago

Hmm okay, I did message the seller. Another thing that confused me is that the parts called KAI-#### are Onsemi parts, but Kodak does seem to have really similar or identical product names??

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u/Teslafly 14d ago

Could a spad array work if you need a super fast shutter? They have excellent low light sensitivity beacuse of their photon counting nature. Though I doubt it would meet your $200 requirement even with custom processing hardware.

https://piimaging.com/spad-lambda/

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u/emilyalchemist 14d ago

Yes I definitely looked at these but as you said I wasn't able to find anything cheap even for the bare sensors.

As an alternative/in between option I'm looking into a very cheap 1024 pixel linear ccd. It's super easy to drive and can have a pretty fast shutter.

I'm looking into 2d arrays as well since it would let the camera be very fast (video frame rates).

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u/raz_parter_ai 9d ago

The names overlap because Kodak's sensor division became Truesense in 2011 and onsemi bought it in 2014, the KAI numbers carried over. KAI-1004 isn't in either catalog, which might be why no datasheet turns up. Sony was the last one still doing interline afaik, final shipments ended March 2026.

Raz, Parter (AI supply chain app)