What Power density will saturate the pixels on the legacy Photon camera?

This question and answer applies to the legacy Photon camera models. The Photon product line and its accessories have been discontinued. The information here is provided for historical reference.

This question typically comes up in the context of illuminating the legacy Photon camera with a laser source. The answer provided assumes the source is CW, and NOT pulsed. The legacy Photon camera’s pixels will saturate at approximately 1E-7 Watts (0.1 µW) per pixel at the FPA. This is a typical value for room temperature operation in the camera’s default operating mode, and will vary depending on parameters such as sensor operating temperature as well as the responsivity of a specific sensor. 

For pulsed laser applications, the amount of energy applied to the pixel over a readout frame period to achieve saturation will be significantly less than 1E-7 Watts (0.1µW) *3.3E-2 seconds = 3.3E-9 joules, assuming that the applied energy arrives over a time period significantly less that the thermal time constant of roughly 2.0E-2 seconds (20ms).