Characterization of skipper CCDs for cosmological applications

Conference · Sun Dec 13 04:00:00 EST 2020 · Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2562403· OSTI ID:1908203

Drlica-Wagner, Alex ^[1]; Villalpando, Edgar Marrufo ^[2]; O'Neil, Judah ^[3]; Estrada, Juan ^[3]; Holland, Stephen ^[4]; Kurinsky, Noah ^[1]; Li, Ting S. ^[5]; Moroni, Guillermo Fernandez ^[3]; Tiffenberg, Javier ^[3]; Uemura, Sho ^[6]

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1. Fermilab; Chicago U.
2. Chicago U.
3. Fermilab
4. LBL, Berkeley
5. Carnegie Inst. Observ.; Princeton U.
6. Fermilab; Tel Aviv U.

We characterize the response of a novel 250 µm thick, fully-depleted Skipper Charged-Coupled Device (CCD) to visible/near-infrared light with a focus on potential applications for astronomical observations. We achieve stable, single-electron resolution with readout noise σ 0.18 e^- rms/pix from 400 non-destructive measurements of the charge in each pixel. We verify that the gain derived from photon transfer curve measurements agrees with the gain calculated from the quantized charge of individual electrons to within < 1%. We also perform relative quantum efficiency measurements and demonstrate high relative quantum efficiency at optical/near- infrared wavelengths, as is expected for a thick, fully depleted detector. Finally, we demonstrate the ability to perform multiple non-destructive measurements and achieve sub-electron readout noise over configurable sub- regions of the detector. This work is the first step toward demonstrating the utility of Skipper CCDs for future astronomical and cosmological applications.

• Research Organization: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP) (SC-25)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-07CH11359
• OSTI ID: 1908203
• Report Number(s): FERMILAB-CONF-20-792-AD-PPD-SCD; FERMILAB-CONF-20-579-AE-LDRD; arXiv:2103.07527; oai:inspirehep.net:1837398
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering Journal Volume: 11454
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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