The internal read-out/erasure system

At the end of the exposure the latent image is read-out by a miniaturized reading head via laser scanning and captured by a photomultiplier. The readout time is ~5 mins when reading at a pixel size of 250µm on edge. The image plate is then erased via exposure to visible light (~3 mins) ready for the next exposure. Data collection using LADI-III is a fully automated sequence of: sample orientation, neutron exposure, image-plate readout, data acquisition and image-plate erasure.