New design yields robust large-area framing camera

Framing cameras provide a discrete series of images over a short period of time in a manner that mimics a high-speed movie camera but with individual shutter times that must be extremely short in order to capture freeze-frame images of rapidly evolving phenomena such as high-explosive shock-driven ejecta, dynamic compression of metals, and high-velocity fluid flow. The Nevada National Security Site has designed and fielded a new, large-area, gated framing camera called Kraken. The camera design emphasized manufacturability and flexibility by improving imager yield and creating a camera architecture to shorten design cycles. Design strategies and field data are presented.