Development and characterization of a fast and low noise readout for the next generation X-ray CCDs
Tanmoy Chattopadhyay, Sven Herrmann, Peter Orel, R. Glenn Morris, Gregory Prigozhin, Andrew Malonis, Richard Foster, David Craig, Barry E. Burke, Steven W. Allen, Marshall Bautz
备注：
Submitted in Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems (JATIS)
发表信息：
Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems 8(2), 026005 (24 May 2022)
The broad energy response, low electronic read noise, and good energy resolution have made X-ray Charge-Coupled Devices (CCDs) an obvious choice for developing soft X-ray astronomical instruments over the last half century. They also come in large array formats with small pixel sizes which make them a potential candidate for the next generation astronomical X-ray missions. However, the next generation X-ray telescopic experiments propose for significantly larger collecting area compared to the existing observatories in order to explore the low luminosity and high redshift X-ray universe which requires these detectors to have an order of magnitude faster readout. In this context, the Stanford University (SU) in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has initiated the development of fast readout electronics for X-ray CCDs. At SU, we have designed and developed a fast and low noise readout module with the goal of achieving a readout speed of 5 Mpixel/s. We successfully ran a prototype CCD matrix of 512 $\times$ 512 pixels at 4 Mpixels/s. In this paper, we describe the details of the readout electronics and report the performance of the detectors at these readout speeds in terms of read noise and energy resolution. In the future, we plan to continue to improve performance of the readout module and eventually converge to a dedicated ASIC based readout system to enable parallel read out of large array multi-node CCD devices.
Current, state-of-the-art CCDs are close to being able to deliver all key performance figures for future strategic X-ray missions except for the required frame rates. Our Stanford group is seeking to close this technology gap through a multi-pronged approach of microelectronics, signal processing and novel detector devices, developed in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and MIT Lincoln Laboratory (MIT-LL). Here we report results from our (integrated) readout electronics development, digital signal processing and novel SiSeRO (Single electron Sensitive Read Out)…
Dark Matter In CCDs (DAMIC) is a silicon detector apparatus used primarily for searching for low-mass dark matter using the silicon bulk of Charge-Coupled Devices (CCDs) as targets. The silicon target within each CCD is \SI{675}{\micro\meter} thick and its top surface is divided into over 16 million \SI{15}{\micro\meter} $\times$ \SI{15}{\micro\meter} pixels. The DAMIC collaboration has installed a number of these CCDs at SNOLAB. As of 2019, DAMIC at SNOLAB has reached operational conditions with leakage current less than \SI{8.2e-22}{\ampere\per\centi\meter\squared} and a readout noise of \SI…
Characterization of Spurious Charge in SENSEI Skipper-CCDs
C.N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics, Stony Brook University（纽约州立大学石溪分校杨振宁理论物理研究所）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, Stony Brook University（纽约州立大学石溪分校物理与天文学系）；Department of Physics and Institute for Fundamental Science, University of Oregon（俄勒冈大学物理与基础科学研究所）；Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory（费米国家加速器实验室）；Département de Physique, Université de Montréal（蒙特利尔大学物理系）；Instituto de Inv. en Ing. Eléctrica (IIIE), Dpto. de Ingeniería Eléctrica y de Computadoras (DIEC), Universidad Nacional del Sur (UNS)-CONICET（国立苏尔大学电气与计算机工程系电气研究研究所（IIIE）-阿根廷科学与技术研究委员会）；Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago（芝加哥大学天文与天体物理学系）；Brookhaven National Laboratory（布鲁克海文国家实验室）；School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel-Aviv University（特拉维夫大学物理与天文学学院）
X-ray Charge Coupled Devices (CCDs) have been the workhorse for soft X-ray astronomical instruments for the past quarter century. They provide broad energy response, extremely low electronic read noise, and good energy resolution in soft X-rays. These properties, along with the large arrays and small pixel sizes available with modern-day CCDs, make them a potential candidate for next generation astronomical X-ray missions equipped with large collecting areas, high angular resolutions and wide fields of view, enabling observation of the faint, diffuse and high redshift X-ray universe. However, …
We present the development of a Skipper Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) focal plane prototype for the SOAR Telescope Integral Field Spectrograph (SIFS). This mosaic focal plane consists of four 6k $\times$ 1k, 15 $μ$m pixel Skipper CCDs mounted inside a vacuum dewar. We describe the process of packaging the CCDs so that they can be easily tested, transported, and installed in a mosaic focal plane. We characterize the performance of $\sim 650 μ$m thick, fully-depleted engineering-grade Skipper CCDs in preparation for performing similar characterization tests on science-grade Skipper CCDs which will…
The effects of charge transfer inefficiency (CTI) on galaxy shape measurements
我们研究了电荷转移效率（CTI）的影响，在CCD读出星系形状测量所需的弱引力透镜的研究。我们模拟了CCD读出与CTI，如带电粒子辐射损伤所造成的。我们验证我们的模拟实验室辐照CCD的数据。只有电荷陷阱的时间常数相同的顺序，在读出过程中的行传输之间的时间影响星系的形状测量。我们描述了CTI对不同星系种群的影响。我们的基线我们的研究围绕p沟道CCD已被证明具有电荷转移效率高达一个数量级优于几个型号的n沟道CCD设计用于空间应用。我们预测，对于距离读出寄存器最远的星系，星系形状测量的偏差Delta（e）将以每年2.65 +/- 0.02 x 10^（-4）的速度在L2处增加，以获得整个太阳周期的平均累积辐射照射。如果不进行校正，这将在大约4年内消耗暗能量任务的整个形状测量误差预算。其他地方展示的软件缓解技术可以将其降低约10倍，使其效果远低于任务要求。具有比我们研究的更高CTI的CCD可能无法满足未来暗能量任务的要求。我们将讨论如何设计硬件，以进一步减少CTI的影响。
High-speed, low-noise, multi-megapixel CCDs for next generation X-ray observatories
Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University（斯坦福大学粒子天体物理与宇宙学 Kavli 研究所）；Department of Physics, Stanford University（斯坦福大学物理系）；SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory（SLAC国家加速器实验室）；MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院天体物理学与空间研究 Kavli 研究所）
Output-Stage Design Optimization for High-Sensitivity SiSeRO CCDs and SiSeRO Active Pixel Sensors
Kavli Institute of Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University（斯坦福大学天体物理与宇宙学 Kavli 研究所）；MIT Lincoln Laboratory（麻省理工学院林肯实验室）；Department of Physics, Stanford University（斯坦福大学物理系）；SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory（SLAC国家加速器实验室）；Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院天体物理与空间研究 Kavli 研究所）
Image sensors with nondestructive charge readout provide single-photon or single-electron sensitivity, but at the cost of long readout times. We present a smart readout technique to allow the use of these sensors in visible-light and other applications that require faster readout times. The method optimizes the readout noise and time by changing the number of times pixels are read out either statically, by defining an arbitrary number of regions of interest (ROI) in the array, or dynamically, depending on the charge or energy of interest (EOI) in the pixel. This technique is tested in a Skippe…
X-ray characterization of fully-depleted p-channel Skipper-CCDs for the DarkNESS mission
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign（伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校）；Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory（费米国家加速器实验室）；University of Chicago（芝加哥大学）；Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago（芝加哥大学卡弗里宇宙物理学研究所）；Brookhaven National Laboratory（布鲁克海文国家实验室）；Tel Aviv University（特拉维夫大学）
DarkNESS 任务利用 Skipper-CCDs 在低地球轨道上探测暗物质衰变产生的 X 射线线，研究质子辐照对传感器性能的影响并评估其寿命末期的 X 射线能谱分辨率。
We present the status of on-going detector development efforts for our joint NASA/CNES balloon-borne UV multi-object spectrograph, the Faint Intergalactic Redshifted Emission Balloon (FIREBall-2; FB-2). FB-2 demonstrates a new UV detector technology, the delta-doped Electron Multiplying CCD (EMCCD), in a low risk suborbital environment, to prove the performance of EMCCDs for future space missions and Technology Readiness Level (TRL) advancement. EMCCDs can be used in photon counting (PC) mode to achieve extremely low readout noise ($<$1 electron). Our testing has focused on reducing clock-indu…
CMOS detectors offer many advantages over CCDs for optical and UV astronomical applications, especially in space where high radiation tolerance is required. However, astronomical instruments are most often designed for low light-level observations demanding low dark current and read noise, good linearity and high dynamic range, characteristics that have not been widely demonstrated for CMOS imagers. We report the performance, over temperatures from 140 - 240 K, of a radiation hardened SRI 4Kx2K back-side illuminated CMOS image sensor with surface treatments that make it highly sensitive in blu…
Accurate readout of low-power optical higher-order spatial modes is of increasing importance to the precision metrology community. Mode sensors are used to prevent mode mismatches from degrading quantum and thermal noise mitigation strategies. Direct mode analysis sensors (MODAN) are a promising technology for real-time monitoring of arbitrary higher-order modes. We demonstrate MODAN with photo-diode readout to mitigate the typically low dynamic range of CCDs. We look for asymmetries in the response our sensor to break degeneracies in the relative alignment of the MODAN and photo-diode and con…
Fast, low noise, megapixel detector and readout systems for future X-ray astronomy missions
Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University（斯坦福大学卡弗里粒子天体物理与宇宙学研究所）；Department of Physics, Stanford University（斯坦福大学物理系）；Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusets Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院卡弗里天体物理与空间研究所）；SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory（SLAC国家加速器实验室）；MIT Lincoln Laboratory（麻省理工学院林肯实验室）；Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics（马克斯·普朗克地外物理研究所）；The Ohio State University（俄亥俄州立大学）
X-ray Hybrid CMOS Detectors (HCDs) have advantages over X-ray CCDs due to their higher readout rate abilities, flexible readout, inherent radiation hardness, and low power, which make them more suitable for the next generation large area X-ray telescope missions. The Penn State high energy astronomy laboratory has been working on the development and characterization of HCDs in collaboration with Teledyne Imaging Sensors (TIS). We characterized an H2RG detector with a Cryo-SIDECAR readout and controller, and we find an improved energy resolution of ~2.7 % at 5.9 keV and read noise of ~6.5 e-. T…
Fast, low-noise CCD systems for future strategic X-ray missions
Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University（斯坦福大学卡弗里粒子天体物理与宇宙学研究所）；Department of Physics, Stanford University（斯坦福大学物理系）；SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory（SLAC国家加速器实验室）；MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院卡弗里天体物理与空间研究所）；MIT Lincoln Laboratory（麻省理工学院林肯实验室）
First results for second generation SiSeRO CCD devices
Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University（斯坦福大学粒子天体物理与宇宙学 Kavli 研究所）；MIT Lincoln Laboratory（麻省理工学院林肯实验室）；MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院天体物理与空间研究 Kavli 研究所）
qCMOS detectors and the case of hypothetical primordial black holes in the solar system, near earth objects, transients, and other high cadence observations
The ORCA-TWIN qCMOS Experiment I. Science case and commissioning at Calar Alto Observatory
Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP)（波茨坦莱布尼茨天体物理研究所）；Deutsches Zentrum für Astrophysik (DZA)（德国天体物理学中心）；Institut für Physik und Astronomie, Universität Potsdam（波茨坦大学物理与天文学研究所）；Hamburger Sternwarte（汉堡天文台）；Observatorio de Calar Alto（卡拉拉阿托天文台）；Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC)（安达卢西亚天体物理研究所）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas Tech University（德克萨斯理工大学物理与天文学系）；Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics（马克斯·普朗克天体物理研究所）；Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron DESY（德国电子同步辐射中心）；Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma（罗马天文台）
The High-Speed FPGA Readout System for the Advanced X-ray Imaging Satellite (AXIS)
Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University（斯坦福大学卡弗里粒子天体物理与宇宙学研究所）；MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusets Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院卡弗里天体物理学与空间研究研究所）；Department of Physics, Stanford University（斯坦福大学物理系）；SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory（斯坦福直线加速器中心）；MIT Lincoln Laboratory（麻省理工学院林肯实验室）
Scientific Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (sCMOS) sensors are finding increasingly more applications in astronomical observations, thanks to their advantages over charge-coupled devices (CCDs) such as a higher readout frame rate, higher radiation tolerance, and higher working temperature. In this work, we investigate the performance at the individual pixel level of a large-format sCMOS sensor, GSENSE1516BSI, which has 4096 * 4096 pixels, each of 15 μm in size. To achieve this, three areas on the sCMOS sensor, each consisting of 99 * 99 pixels, are chosen for the experiment. The readou…
We report on the development of commercially fabricated multi-chroic antenna coupled Transition Edge Sensor (TES) bolometer arrays for Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarimetry experiments. The orders of magnitude increase in detector count for next-generation CMB experiments requires a new approach in detector wafer production to increase fabrication throughput. We describe collaborative efforts with a commercial superconductor electronics fabrication facility (SeeQC, Inc.) to fabricate antenna coupled TES bolometer detectors. We have successfully fabricated an operational dual-polarizati…
暗能量巡天（DES）是下一代光学巡天，旨在使用四个探测器测量宇宙的膨胀历史：弱引力透镜，星系团计数，重子声学振荡和Ia型超新星。为了进行调查，DES合作正在建造暗能量相机（DECam），这是一个3平方度，570百万像素的CCD相机，将安装在塞罗托洛洛美洲天文台的布兰科4米望远镜上。DES将在5个过滤器（g，r，i，z，Y）中测量5000平方度的南银河帽。DECam将由74个250微米厚的全耗尽CCD组成：62个2k x 4k CCD用于成像，12个2k x 2k CCD用于引导和聚焦。DECam的建设已接近完成。为了验证相机是否符合DES的技术规格，并减少调试仪器所需的时间，我们建造了一个全尺寸的望远镜模拟器，并在发货前进行了完整的系统测试和集成。为了完成这一全面的测试阶段，我们模拟了DES观测运行，其中我们收集了4个晚上的数据。我们报告的结果，这些独特的测试进行的DECam及其对实验进展的影响。
Single electron Sensitive Read Out (SiSeRO) is a novel on-chip charge detector output stage for charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensors. Developed at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, this technology uses a p-MOSFET transistor with a depleted internal gate beneath the transistor channel. The transistor source-drain current is modulated by the transfer of charge into the internal gate. At Stanford, we have developed a readout module based on the drain current of the on-chip transistor to characterize the device. Characterization was performed for a number of prototype sensors with different device arch…
In recent years, scientific CMOS (sCMOS) sensors have been vigorously developed and have outperformed CCDs in several aspects: higher readout frame rate, higher radiation tolerance, and higher working temperature. For silicon image sensors, image lag will occur when the charges of an event are not fully transferred inside pixels. It can degrade the image quality for optical imaging, and deteriorate the energy resolution for X-ray spectroscopy. In this work, the image lag of a sCMOS sensor is studied. To measure the image lag under low-light illumination, we constructed a new method to extract …
High-bandwidth frequency domain multiplexed readout of transition-edge sensors for neutrinoless double beta decay searches
McGill University（麦吉尔大学）；Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory（劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室）；University of California Berkeley（加州大学伯克利分校）；Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University（弗吉尼亚理工大学）；Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院）；Argonne National Laboratory（阿贡国家实验室）
Curving X-ray detectors for astrophysics applications
Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院卡弗里天体物理学与空间研究学院）；Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院林肯实验室）
The next generation of space-based mm-wave telescopes, such as JAXA's LiteBIRD mission, require focal planes with thousands of detectors in order to achieve their science goals. Digital frequency-domain multiplexing (dfmux) techniques allow detector counts to scale without a linear growth in wire harnessing, sub-Kelvin refrigerator loads, and other scaling problems. In this paper, we introduce Technology Readiness Level 5 (TRL5) electronics suitable for biasing and readout of LiteBIRD's Transition Edge Sensor (TES) bolometers using dfmux techniques. These electronics sit between the spacecraft…
