FIRSA: the demonstrator array of the FIR camera for the photoconductor instrument PACS on ESA's FIRST satellite

Dietrich Lemke; Lothar Barl; S. Eckardt; Otto Frenzl; Ulrich Groezinger; Lou Hermans; Gerd Jakob; Reinhard O. Katterloher; Albrecht Poglitsch; Joost Seijnaeve; Juergen Wolf

doi:10.1117/12.317247

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21 August 1998 FIRSA: the demonstrator array of the FIR camera for the photoconductor instrument PACS on ESA's FIRST satellite

Dietrich Lemke, Lothar Barl, S. Eckardt, Otto Frenzl, Ulrich Groezinger, Lou Hermans, Gerd Jakob, Reinhard O. Katterloher, Albrecht Poglitsch, Joost Seijnaeve, Juergen Wolf

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Proceedings Volume 3354, Infrared Astronomical Instrumentation; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.317247
Event: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, 1998, Kona, HI, United States

Abstract

PACS covers the wavelength range 80-210 micrometers in spectrometric and photometric imaging modes. The long wavelength camera is a 16 X 25 pixel array of stressed Ge:Ga detectors. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of such a large array, one of the 25 linear arrays was manufactured. It consists of 16 elements of 1.5 mm³ each separated by ceramic plungers and stressed by one single mechanism. As preamplifier a dedicated CMOS circuit was developed, based on similar circuits successfully operating in ISO's photometer. In particular, it was intended to increase the gain of the CRE in order to minimize the debiasing effects on the low bias operated detectors. Two complete linear demonstrator arrays were manufactured and independently tested under various low background conditions in a 1.7 K environment at MPIA and MPE. The feasibility of the concept chosen was demonstrated in several functional tests. Valuable experience was gained to guide the development of the next generation of CREs and arrays.

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Dietrich Lemke, Lothar Barl, S. Eckardt, Otto Frenzl, Ulrich Groezinger, Lou Hermans, Gerd Jakob, Reinhard O. Katterloher, Albrecht Poglitsch, Joost Seijnaeve, and Juergen Wolf "FIRSA: the demonstrator array of the FIR camera for the photoconductor instrument PACS on ESA's FIRST satellite", Proc. SPIE 3354, Infrared Astronomical Instrumentation, (21 August 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.317247

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