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Characterization and Optimization of Skipper CCDs for the SOAR Integral Field Spectrograph

Journal Article · · Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [5];  [7];  [4];  [4];  [8];  [9];  [10];  [1];  [4];  [5];  [4]
  1. Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)
  2. Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States); Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
  3. Stanford Univ., CA (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
  4. Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
  5. Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), La Serena (Chile)
  6. Univ. de Córdoba (Spain)
  7. Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Univ. Nacional del Sur (UNS), Bahía Blanca (Argentina)
  8. Laboratório Nacional de Astrofísica (LNA/MCTI), Itajubá (Brazil)
  9. Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Univ. of Buenos Aires (Argentina)
  10. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
We present results from the characterization and optimization of Skipper charge-coupled devices (CCDs) for use in a focal plane prototype for the Southern Astrophysical Research Integral Field Spectrograph (SIFS). We tested eight Skipper CCDs and selected six for SIFS based on performance results. The Skipper CCDs are 6k × 1k, 15 μm pixels, thick, fully depleted, p-channel devices that have been thinned to ~250 μm, backside processed, and treated with an anti-reflective coating. We demonstrate a single-sample readout noise of <4.3 e- rms pixel-1 in all amplifiers. We optimize the readout sequence timing to achieve a readout noise of 0.5 e- rms pixel-1 after 74 non-destructive measurements, which can be accomplished in a region covering 5% of the detector area in a readout time of <4 minutes. We demonstrate single-photon-counting in all 24 amplifiers (four amplifiers per detector) with a readnoise of σN ~ 0.18 e- rms pixel-1 after Nsamp = 400 samples, and we constrain the degree of nonlinearity to be ≲1% at low signal levels (0 e- to 50 e-). Clock-induced charge (CIC) remains an important issue when the Skipper CCD is configured to provide a large full-well capacity. We achieve a CIC rate of <1.45 × 10-3 e- pixel-1 frame-1 for a full-well capacity of ~900 e-, which increases to a CIC rate of ~3 e- pixel-1 frame-1 for full-well capacities ~40,000-65,000 e-. We also perform conventional CCD characterization measurements such as charge transfer inefficiency (3.44 × 10-7 on average), dark current (~2 × 10-4 e- pixel-1 s-1), photon transfer curves, cosmetic defects (<0.45% “bad” pixels), and charge diffusion (point-spread function < 7.5 μm) to verify that these properties are consistent with expectations from conventional p-channel CCDs used for astronomy. Furthermore, we provide the first measurements of the brighter-fatter effect and absolute quantum efficiency (≳80% between 450 and 980 nm; ≳90% between 600 and 900 nm) using Skipper CCDs.
Research Organization:
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Heising-Simons Foundation; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-07CH11359; AC02-76SF00515
OSTI ID:
2349032
Report Number(s):
FERMILAB-PUB--24-0152-PPD; oai:inspirehep.net:2777076
Journal Information:
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Journal Name: Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 136; ISSN 0004-6280
Publisher:
Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Figures / Tables (21)

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Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
Astronomical detectors
CCD observation
Spectroscopy