Managing radiation degradation of CCDs on the Chandra X-ray Observatory III

Stephen L. O'Dell; Thomas L. Aldcroft; William C. Blackwell; Sabina L. Bucher; Jon H. Chappell; Joseph M. DePasquale; Catherine E. Grant; Michael Juda; Eric R. Martin; Joseph I. Minow; Stephen S. Murray; Paul P. Plucinsky; Daniel A. Schwartz; Daniel P. Shropshire; Bradley J. Spitzbart; Paul R. Viens; Scott J. Wolk

doi:10.1117/12.734594

Translator Disclaimer

18 September 2007 Managing radiation degradation of CCDs on the Chandra X-ray Observatory III

Stephen L. O'Dell, Thomas L. Aldcroft, William C. Blackwell, Sabina L. Bucher, Jon H. Chappell, Joseph M. DePasquale, Catherine E. Grant, Michael Juda, Eric R. Martin, Joseph I. Minow, Stephen S. Murray, Paul P. Plucinsky, Daniel A. Schwartz, Daniel P. Shropshire, Bradley J. Spitzbart, Paul R. Viens, Scott J. Wolk

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6686, UV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Space Instrumentation for Astronomy XV; 668603 (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.734594
Event: Optical Engineering + Applications, 2007, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Soon after the start of science operations of the Chandra X-ray Observatory, it became apparent that weakly penetrating (0.1-0.5 MeV) protons in the Earth's radiation belt were causing an unexpectedly rapid increase in the charge-transfer inefficiency of Chandra's front-illuminated CCDs. Fortunately, the Chandra team developed, implemented, and maintains a radiation-protection program that successfully reduced the rate of degradation of the CCDs' performance to acceptable levels. Since implementing this program, the average rate of increase of the charge-transfer inefficiency has slowed to 3.2×10^-6/y (2.3%/y) for the front-illuminated CCDs and 1.0×10^-6/y (5.8%/y) for the back-illuminated CCDs. This paper reviews the Chandra radiation-management program, reports the current status, and describes changes planned or implemented since the previous paper on this topic.

Citation Download Citation

Stephen L. O'Dell, Thomas L. Aldcroft, William C. Blackwell, Sabina L. Bucher, Jon H. Chappell, Joseph M. DePasquale, Catherine E. Grant, Michael Juda, Eric R. Martin, Joseph I. Minow, Stephen S. Murray, Paul P. Plucinsky, Daniel A. Schwartz, Daniel P. Shropshire, Bradley J. Spitzbart, Paul R. Viens, and Scott J. Wolk "Managing radiation degradation of CCDs on the Chandra X-ray Observatory III", Proc. SPIE 6686, UV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Space Instrumentation for Astronomy XV, 668603 (18 September 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.734594

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE