2024/09/01 by Kenneth W. Lin, Armin Karcher, J. Guy +11 · 1 citation
Chemistry · Environmental Science · Chemical Engineering · #Spectroscopy and Laser Applications #Water Quality Monitoring and Analysis #Analytical Chemistry and Sensors
paper · doi:10.1088/1538-3873/ad716c
Abstract We present characterization results and performance of a prototype Multiple-Amplifier Sensing (MAS) silicon charge-coupled device (CCD) sensor with 16 channels potentially suitable for faint object astronomical spectroscopy and low-signal, photon-limited imaging. The MAS CCD is designed to reach sub-electron readout noise by repeatedly measuring charge through a line of amplifiers during the serial transfer shifts. Using synchronized readout electronics based on the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument CCD controller, we report a read noise of 1.03 e − rms pix −1 at a speed of 26 μ s pix −1 with a single-sample readout scheme where charge in a pixel is measured only once for each output stage. At these operating parameters, we find the amplifier-to-amplifier charge transfer efficiency (ACTE) to be >0.9995 at low counts for all amplifiers but one for which the ACTE is 0.997. This charge transfer efficiency falls above 50,000 electrons for the read-noise optimized voltage configuration we chose for the serial clocks and gates. The amplifier linearity across a broad dynamic range from ∼300 to 35,000 e − was also measured to be ±2.5%. We describe key operating parameters to optimize on these characteristics and describe the specific applications for which the MAS CCD may be a suitable detector candidate.