A new setup for detector characterization consisting of a cryostat, tunable collimated light source, and versatile data acquisition system is currently being commissioned. The setup enables testing optical and infrared sensors in the 400 to 14000 nm wavelength range and the devices under test can be cooled to cryogenic temperatures of down to 50 K under vacuum condition. 32 spectral band passes with bandwidths of λ{ΔΛ ≥ 50 are available for spectral characterization, covering the full range from 400 to 14000 nm. The setup can be used to characterize responsivity, detectivity, noise equivalent temperature difference, dark current, linearity, dynamic range, well depth, and pixel response non-uniformity. We report on first results for the characterization of imaging sensors using Teledyne’s CCD47-20 as the device under test for which camera gain, linearity error, full well capacity, read noise, dark noise, and quantum efficiency have been determined. Furthermore, the performance of the light source and cryostat system will be discussed.
KEYWORDS: Microbolometers, Photodiodes, Spectral response, Dark current, Signal to noise ratio, Light sources, Data acquisition, Collimators, Quantum sensors, CMOS sensors
We report on the design of a new laboratory setup for testing the performance of optical and thermal sensors at temperatures ranging from 50 K to 350 K and pressures ranging from ambient atmospheric pressures down to 10-5 mbar. The system will be built around a closed-cycle cooled cryostat which houses the device under test. Optical stimuli will be provided by a calibrated selectable light source which provides collimated light from an integrating sphere or a cavity blackbody. Bandpass filters as well as imaging targets can be selected for determining the spectral response and modular transfer function. Data acquisition from the device under test will be accomplished using an automated test bench based on a custom-made FPGA interface adaption board.
The Fast Front End Electronic (F-FEE) is a unit of the payload for the PLATO ESA mission. PLATO aims at finding and characterising a large number of extra solar planetary systems. In order to achieve its scientific objectives, PLATO relies on the analysis of continuous time series of high precision photometric measurements of stellar fluxes. The scientific payload of PLATO is based on a multi-telescope approach, involving a set of 24 ”normal” cameras working at a cadence of 25 s optimized to monitor stars fainter than magnitude 8 (photometry on saturated stars down to magnitude 4 will be possible), plus two ”fast” cameras working at a cadence of 2.5 s, and observing stars in the V range from 4 to 8. Beside providing star brightness measurements for bright stars, the ”fast” cameras also work as fine guidance sensors for the attitude control system of the Spacecraft. Each ”fast” camera is equipped with 4 CCDs with 4510 × 2255 light sensitive pixels each, working in frame transfer mode. In view of the instrument development an Engineering Model (EM) of the F-FEE has been manufactured, assembled and tested. The performance tests have been conducted using artificially generated CCD signals as well as real CCDs, proving the capability of the electronics to satisfy the demanding requirements to fine guidance but also science requirements of the PLATO mission.
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