The detector used in a spectroradiometer is determined by the wavelength over which the light is being measured, as well as the required dynamic range and sensitivity of the measurements. Basic spectroradiometer detector technologies generally fall into one of three groups: photoemissive detectors (e.g. photomultiplier tubes), semiconductor devices (e.g. silicon), or thermal detectors (e.g. thermopile).
The spectral response of a given detector is determined by its core materials. For example, photocathodes found in photomultiplier tubes can be manufactured from certain elements to be solar-blind – sensitive to UV and non-responsive to light in the visible or IR.
CCD (Charge Coupled Device) arrays typically one dimensional (linear) or two dimensional (area) arrays of thousands or millions of individual detector elements (also known as pixels) and CMOS sensors. They include a silicon or InGaAs based multichannel array detector capable of measuring UV, visible and near-infra light.
CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) sensors differs from a CCD in that they add an amplifier to each photodiode. This is called an active pixel sensor because the amplifier is part of the pixel. Transistor switches connect each photodiode to the intrapixel amplifier at the time of readout.