Peter Verhoeve, Sander Blommaert, Dennis Breeveld, Joerg ter Haar, Kate Isaak, Frederic Lemmel, Cornelis van der Luijt, Thibaut Prod'homme, Hans Smit, Brian Shortt, Ivo Visser, Attila Simon, Andrea Fortier, Christopher Broeg
The CCD47-20 detector of CHEOPS (CHaracterizing ExOPlanet Satellite, ESA/Switzerland), operated at -45°C, is developing an increasing number of hot pixels in orbit, due to particle-induced radiation damage in its 700 km, sun-synchronous dawn/dusk orbit. While the satellite offers the possibility to raise the detector’s temperature to well above +20°C, it is not clear whether this could have a beneficial effect on the hot pixel distribution, and which temperature and duration would be required. To inform the mission on the potential benefits of in-orbit annealing, we irradiated CCD47-20s from the CHEOPS flight production batch at -45°C with protons. After irradiation, the hot pixels were monitored for 7 days at -45°C Subsequently, the temperature was raised step-wise (up to +80°C) for 12 hrs, each step followed by characterisation at -45°C. A significant reduction in the hot pixel count was observed at each step. A recommendation for a possible in-orbit annealing procedure was derived.
Peter Verhoeve, Sander Blommaert, Dennis Breeveld, Joerg ter Haar, Frederic lemmel, Yves Levillain, Cornelis van der Luijt, Thibaut Prod'homme, Hans Smit, Brian Shortt, Ivo Visser
This conference presentation was prepared for the X-Ray, Optical, and Infrared Detectors for Astronomy X conference at SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2022.
For the MWIR channel of the spectrometer of the ESA Ariel mission, ESA has procured a dedicated MCT detector from TeledyneE2V with a cut-off of 8µm at 42K.A test bench has been designed, manufactured and commissioned to measure the performances of the detector at cryogenic temperature. The detector was tested before, during and after proton radiation performed at 42K up to a level of 2.50E+10 p+/cm2.The results of the impact of the proton radiation on the detector performances are presented as well as a description of the test bench.
Pyxel is a novel python tool for end-to-end detection chain simulation i.e. from detector optical effects to readout electronics effects. It is an easy-to-use framework to host and pipeline any detector effect model. It is suited for simulating both Charge-Coupled Devices, CMOS Image Sensors and Mercury Cadmium Telluride hybridized arrays. It is conceived as a collaborative tool to promote reusability, knowledge transfer, and reliability in the instrumentation community. We will provide a demonstration of Pyxel’s basic principles, describe newly added capabilities and the main models already implemented, and give examples of more advanced applications.
We report on the impact of proton and gamma irradiation on an MCT detector. The main result is the proton irradiation prevents the increase of the dark current due to the later total ionizing dose.
The Soft X-ray Imager (SXI) on-board the joint ESA-CAS SMILE mission is a wide-field lobster-eye telescope designed to characterize the Earth's magnetospheric boundaries, by observing emission from the solar wind charge exchange (SWCX) process in the soft X-ray band. It has two large CCD370 (Teledyne-e2v) detectors, derived from the CCD-Bruyeres for ESA’s PLATO mission, with minor optimizations for soft X-ray detection, related to higher responsivity and increased radiation hardness. We present the first performance results under X-ray illumination of the CCD370 in SXI-specific operating conditions, including 6x6 on-chip pixel binning, over a range of pixel readout rates and operating temperatures.
Using the high-resolution OLED screen of a smartphone to project arbitrary scenes and patterns can open a complete new dimension for testing sensors in the visible. Based on an original concept from JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), this contribution describes a new experimental setup designed to achieve the demanding performance of its first application by ESA (European Space Agency): the evaluation of radiation-induced CTI (Charge Transfer Inefficiency) on Euclid’s weak lensing measurement. We show that pushed to its limits especially in terms of calibration such a simple experiment can deliver a level of optical performance high enough to be applied in the verification of high-precision astronomy instrument performance.
In the framework of the ESA’s Science programme, the Euclid mission has the objective to map the geometry of the Dark Universe. For the Near Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer instrument (NISP), the state-of-the-art HAWAII-2RG detectors will be used, in association with the SIDECAR ASIC readout electronics. A dedicated test bench has been designed, developed and validated at ESTEC to perform tests on these detectors. This test bench is equipped with a spot projector system as well as a set of LEDs allowing to project the Euclid like beam and perform persistence measurements. The detector under test shows crosshatch patterns that may correspond to sub-pixel variations in Quantum Efficiency or charge redistribution. The goal of the tests was to evaluate the impact of crosshatches patterns on the Euclid photometric performance and centroid calculation after flat fielding correction. The second part of the publication discusses different persistence mitigation tests using the LEDs test set up.
In the context of PLATO | ESA's exo-Earth hunting mission due for launch in 2026 | the Science Payload Validation team at ESA/ESTEC have performed a cryogenic proton irradiation and testing campaign of the PLATO CCD radiation test vehicle the Teledyne-e2v CCD280. Following the irradiation in standard conditions (room temperature, unbiased) of one device, and the irradiation of another in close to flight conditions (at T=203K and operated), the devices performance (CTI, dark current, hot pixels, trap population) were concurrently monitored over a two month period, first at a constant temperature and then following several temperature cycles. The results of these investigations will be presented.
Pyxel is a novel, open-source and Python-based framework designed to host and pipeline any type of models simulating detector effects such as cosmic rays, detector PSF, various noise sources, Charge Transfer Inefficiency or persistence on images produced by CCD or CMOS-based imaging detectors. It is currently under development at the European Space Agency with the goal of release it to the broader detector scientist community. We present here the architecture of the framework, how to integrate new models in it and give a few examples of its current simulation capabilities.
KEYWORDS: Particles, Charge-coupled devices, Data modeling, Silicon, Electrons, Computer simulations, Space operations, Monte Carlo methods, Stars, Sensors
ESA’s astrometry mission Gaia was launched in 2013 to establish the most accurate and complete map of the Milky Way by measuring the distance, position, proper motion, and astrophysical characteristics of two billion stars. It contains the largest focal plane ever flown in space comprising 106 CCDs. To downlink to Earth only useful data, an on-board algorithm was designed to discriminate between e.g. stars and cosmics- ionizing tracks left by energetic particles. A cosmic ray event generation simulator was developed to train and optimize this on-board source detection algorithm. We can now validate this model against Gaia data.
Frédéric Lemmel, Jörg ter Haar, John van der Biezen, Ludovic Duvet, Nick Nelms, Sander Blommaert, Bart Butler, Cornelis van der Luijt, Jerko Heijnen, Hans Smit, Ivo Visser
KEYWORDS: Sensors, Cryogenics, Prototyping, Calibration, Clocks, Control systems, Video, Digital clocks, Signal detection, Field programmable gate arrays
For future near infrared astronomy missions, ESA is developing a complete detection and conversion chain (photon to SpaceWire chain system):
Large Format Array (aLFA-N) based on MCT type detectors.
aLFA-C (Astronomy Large Format Array Controller): a versatile cryogenic detector controller.
An aLFA-C prototype was developed by Caeleste (Belgium) under ESA contract (400106260400). To validate independently the performances of the aLFA-C prototype and consolidate the definition of the follow-on activity, a dedicated test bench has been designed and developed in ESTEC/ESA within the Payload Technology Validation group. This paper presents the test setup and the performance validation of the first prototype of this controller at room and cryogenic temperature. Test setup and software needed to test the HAWAII-2RG and aLFA-N detectors with the aLFA-C prototype at cryogenic temperature will be also presented.
Euclid is an ESA mission to map the geometry of the dark Universe with a planned launch date in 2020. Euclid is optimised for two primary cosmological probes, weak gravitational lensing and galaxy clustering. They are implemented through two science instruments on-board Euclid, a visible imager (VIS) and a near-infrared spectro-photometer (NISP), which are being developed and built by the Euclid Consortium instrument development teams. The NISP instrument contains a large focal plane assembly of 16 Teledyne HgCdTe HAWAII-2RG detectors with 2.3μm cut-off wavelength and SIDECAR readout electronics. While most Euclid NISP detector system on-ground tests involve flat-field illumination, some performance tests require point-like sources to be projected onto the detector. For this purpose a dedicated test bench has been developed by ESA at ESTEC including a spot projector capable of generating a Euclid-like PSF. This paper describes the test setup and results from two characterisation tests involving the spot projector. One performance parameter to be addressed by Euclid is image (charge) persistence resulting from previous exposures in the science acquisition sequence. To correlate results from standard on-ground persistence tests from flat-field illumination to realistic scenes, the persistence effect from spot illumination has been evaluated and compared to the flat-field. Another important aspect is the photometric impact of intra-pixel response variations. Preliminary results of this measurement on a single pixel are presented.
KEYWORDS: Sensors, Near infrared, Liquid phase epitaxy, Astronomy, Readout integrated circuits, Interference (communication), Digital signal processing, Signal detection, Capacitance, Prototyping
The Payload Technology Validation section in the Future Missions office of ESA's Science directorate at ESTEC provides testing support to present and future missions at different stages in their lifetime, from early technology developments to mission operation validation. In this framework, a test setup to characterize near-infrared (NIR) detectors has been created. In the context of the Astronomy Large Format Array for the near-infrared ("ALFA-N") technology development program, detectors from different suppliers are tested. We report on the characterization progress of the ALFA-N detectors, for which a series of rigorous tests have been performed on two different detectors; one provided by CEA/Leti-CEA/IRFU-SOFRADIR, France and the other by SELEX- UK/ATC, UK. Experimental techniques, the test bench and methods are presented. The conversion gain of two different detectors is measured using the photon transfer curve method. For a Leti LPE detector the persistence effect has been probed across a range of illumination levels to reveal a sharp linear increase of persistence below full-well and a plateauing beyond saturation. The same detector has been proton irradiated which has resulted in no significant dark current increase.
PLATO { PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars { is the third medium-class mission to be selected in the European Space Agency (ESA) Science and Robotic Exploration Cosmic Vision programme. Due for launch in 2025, the payload makes use of a large format (8 cm x 8 cm) Charge-Coupled Devices (CCDs), the e2v CCD270 operated at 4 MHz and at -70 C. To de-risk the PLATO CCD qualification programme initiated in 2014 and support the mission definition process, ESA's Payload Technology Validation section from the Future Missions Office has developed a dedicated test bench.
PLATO – PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars – is the third medium-class mission (M3) to be selected in the European Space Agency (ESA) Science and Robotic Exploration Cosmic Vision programme. It is due for launch in 2025 with the main objective to find and study terrestrial planets in the habitable zone around solar-like stars. The payload consists of >20 cameras; with each camera comprising 4 Charge-Coupled Devices (CCDs), a large number of flight model devices procured by ESA shall ultimately be integrated on the spacecraft. The CCD270 – specially designed and manufactured by e2v for the PLATO mission – is a large format (8 cm x 8 cm) back-illuminated device operating at 4 MHz pixel rate and coming in two variants: full frame and frame transfer. In order to de-risk the PLATO CCD procurement and aid the mission definition process, ESA’s Payload Technology Validation section is currently validating the PLATO CCD270. This validation consists in demonstrating that the device achieves its specified electrooptical performance in the relevant environment: operated at 4 MHz, at cold and before and after proton irradiation. As part of this validation, CCD270 devices have been characterized in the dark as well as optically with respect to performance parameters directly relevant for the photometric application of the CCDs. Dark tests comprise the measurement of gain sensitivity to bias voltages, charge injection tests, and measurement of hot and variable pixels after irradiation. In addition, the results of measurements of Quantum Efficiency for a range of angles of incidence, intra– pixel response (non-)uniformity, and response to spot illumination, before and after proton irradiation. In particular, the effect of radiation induced degradation of the charge transfer efficiency on the measured charge in a star-like spot has been studied as a function of signal level and of position on the pixel grid, Also, the effect of various levels of background light on the amount of charge lost from a star image are described. These results can serve as a direct input to the PLATO consortium to study the mission performance and as a basis for further optimization of the CCD operation.
PLATO { PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars { is the third medium-class mission to be selected in the European Space Agency (ESA) Science and Robotic Exploration Cosmic Vision programme. Due for launch in 2025, the payload makes use of a large format (8 cm x 8 cm) Charge-Coupled Devices (CCDs) the e2v CCD270 operated at 4 MHz. The manufacture of such large device in large quantity constitutes an unprecedented effort. To de-risk the PLATO CCD procurement and aid the mission definition process, ESA's Payload Technology Validation team is characterizing the electro-optical performance of a number of PLATO devices before and after proton irradiation.
Publisher's Note: This paper, originally published on 10/12/2015, was replaced with a corrected/revised version on 10/23/2015. If you downloaded the original PDF but are unable to access the revision, please contact SPIE Digital Library Customer Service for assistance.
The Payload Technology Validation Section (SRE-FV) at ESTEC has the goal to validate new technology for future or on-going mission. In this framework, a test set up to characterize the quantum efficiency of near-infrared (NIR) detectors has been created. In the context of the NIR European Large Format Array (“LFA”), 3 deliverables detectors coming from SELEX-UK/ATC (UK) on one side, and CEA/LETI- CEA/IRFU-SOFRADIR (FR) on the other side were characterized. The quantum efficiency of an HAWAII-2RG detector from Teledyne was as well measured. The capability to compare on the same setup detectors from different manufacturers is a unique asset for the future mission preparation office. This publication will present the quantum efficiency results of a HAWAII-2RG detector from Teledyne with a 2.5um cut off compared to the LFA European detectors prototypes developed independently by SELEX-UK/ATC (UK) on one side, and CEA/LETI- CEA/IRFU-SOFRADIR (FR) on the other side.
The Payload Technology Validation Section (Future mission preparation Office) at ESTEC is in charge of specific mission oriented validation activities, for science and robotic exploration missions, aiming at reducing development risks in the implementation phase. These activities take place during the early mission phases or during the implementation itself. In this framework, a test set up to characterize the quantum efficiency of near infrared detectors has been developed. The first detector to be tested will an HAWAII-2RG detector with a 2.5μm cut off, it will be used as commissioning device in preparation to the tests of prototypes European detectors developed under ESA funding. The capability to compare on the same setup detectors from different manufacturers will be a unique asset for the future mission preparation office. This publication presents the performances of the quantum efficiency test bench to prepare measurements on the HAWAII-2RG detector. A SOFRADIR Saturn detector has been used as a preliminary test vehicle for the bench. A test set up with a lamp, chopper, monochromator, pinhole and off axis mirrors allows to create a spot of 1mm diameter between 700nm and 2.5μm.The shape of the beam has been measured to match the rms voltage read by the Merlin Lock –in amplifier and the amplitude of the incoming signal. The reference detectors have been inter-calibrated with an uncertainty up to 3 %. For the measurement with HAWAII-2RG detector, the existing cryostat [1] has been modified to adapt cold black baffling, a cold filter wheel and a sapphire window. An statistic uncertainty of ±2.6% on the quantum efficiency on the detector under test measurement is expected.
The paper describes the operations of ESA’s Optical Ground Station (OGS) during the Lunar Laser Communications
Demonstration (LLCD) experiment, performed in October and November 2013 with NASA’s Lunar Atmospheric and
Dust Environmental Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft. First the transmitter and receiver designs at the OGS telescope are
described, which are geometrically separated to prevent cross-talk. Problems encountered and the lesson learned will be
explained. As it turned the chosen arrangement was not sufficiently stable in terms of alignment and the paper will
describe the solution found. A new industrial contract has been placed for improvement of the design of two solutions
will be presented, which will both be tested in a follow-up laser communication campaign, scheduled for end March
2014.
In the frame work of the European Space Agency's Cosmic Vision program, the Euclid mission has the objective to map
the geometry of the Dark Universe. Galaxies and clusters of galaxies will be observed in the visible and near-infrared
wavelengths by an imaging and spectroscopic channel.
For the Near Infrared Spectrometer instrument (NISP), the state-of-the-art HAWAII-2RG detectors will be used,
associated with the SIDECAR ASIC readout electronic which will perform the image frame acquisitions.
To characterize and validate the performance of these detectors, a test bench has been designed, tested and validated.
This publication will present preliminary measurements on dark current, read noise, conversion gain and power
consumption, In summary, the following results have been obtained in our system: dark current of 0.014 e-/s/pixel at
82K; readout noise of 23 e- for a single CDS pair and 5.4e- for a Fowler(32); a total electric power consumption of 203
mW in LVDS (excluding I/O power) mode.
The SIDECAR ASIC has also been characterized separately at room temperature. Two references voltages,
VPreAmpRef1 and VrefMain, used to adjust the offset of the pre-amp DAC has been studied. The reset voltage, Vreset,
was measured to have a root mean square stability of 22μV over 15 minutes and a root mean square stability value of 24μV over a 15 hours measurement period. An offset between set value and measured value of around 60mV for low set
voltages has been noticed. The behavior of VPreAmpRef1 and VrefMain with a adjustable external input voltage has
been conducted in order to tune these two biases to cover the desired input range with the best linearity.
In the frame work of the European Space Agency's Cosmic Vision program, the Euclid mission has the objective to map
the geometry of the Dark Universe. Galaxies and clusters of galaxies will be observed in the visible and near-infrared
wavelengths by an imaging and spectroscopic channel.
For the Near Infrared Spectrometer instrument (NISP), the state-of-the-art HAWAII-2RG detectors will be used,
associated with the SIDECAR ASIC readout electronic which will perform the image frame acquisitions.
To characterize and validate the performance of these detectors, a test bench has been designed, tested and validated.
This publication describes the pre-tests performed to build the set up dedicated to dark current measurements and tests
requiring reasonably uniform light levels (such as for conversion gain measurements). Successful cryogenic and vacuum
tests on commercial LEDs and photodiodes are shown. An optimized feed through in stainless steel with a V-groove to
pot the flex cable connecting the SIDECAR ASIC to the room temperature board (JADE2) has been designed and tested.
The test set up for quantum efficiency measurements consisting of a lamp, a monochromator, an integrating sphere and
set of cold filters, and which is currently under construction will ensure a uniform illumination across the detector with
variations lower than 2%.
A dedicated spot projector for intra-pixel measurements has been designed and built to reach a spot diameter of 5 μm at
920nm with 2nm of bandwidth [1].
The visual imaging instrument VIS on board Euclid baselines 36 newly designed CCD273-84 devices from e2v.
While these new devices have a 4kx4k format with four readout nodes, the Euclid Imaging Consortium (EIC) has
performed extensive test campaigns on both irradiated and un-irradiated devices of the 4kx1k Euclid precursor variant
CCD204-22. In support of the CCD development and characterization, and to enable an independent assessment of the
Euclid CCDs (the procurement of which is ESA’s responsibility), ESA/ESTEC has built a test bench. This test bench
allows for a flexible operation and readout of the CCDs, originally for CCD204 and shortly also for CCD273-84. It
provides the basic tools for noise and gain calibration, and CTI, QE, MTF and PRNU measurements. In addition, the
bench provides scanning spot illumination with a spot size well below the pixel size, for measurement of the intra-pixel
response of the CCDs before and after radiation damage. Such measurements are of great importance for the
characterization and modeling of the VIS instrument’s PSF, in particular to enable the prediction of the evolution of the
PSF shape under the influence of the L2 radiation environment during the mission. This set-up will also allow for
simulation of typical Euclid sky images in the lab. The capabilities and validation of this bench at ESA are described in
this paper.
Euclid is the ESA mission to map the geometry of the dark Universe using two cosmological probes, namely Weak
Lensing and Baryonic Acoustic oscillations. The visual imager, a CCD based optical imaging channel will be used to
measure the shapes of galaxies in one single wide visual band spanning the wavelength range of 550-920 nm. The focal
plane array supports 36 CCDs (4k×4k pixels each) with 0.101 arcsec pixel platescale, giving a geometric field of 0.55
deg2. With the weak lensing technique, the mass distribution of the lensing structures can be traced back.
The originally baselined CCDs were e2v CCD203-82. Following the results from a dedicated radiation damage test
activity on their CCD204 variant, a new version, called 273 has been designed and made available in a front-illuminated
version in April 2012.
For Euclid, the accuracy with which the shape of the galaxies has to be measured is considerable: 1% and has never been
demonstrated. The radiation damage effects will adversely affect this measurement and thus need to be characterized.
Therefore, several test campaigns on the characterization of the CCD radiation damages for Euclid are carried out by
ESA and by the Euclid Imaging Consortium.
For this purpose, a test bench has been implemented at ESTEC to characterize CCD devices, with radiometric
measurements, point source illumination and lab simulation of typical Euclid sky images. The preliminary results
obtained at ESA on a non-irradiated front-illuminated Euclid prototype CCD 273-84-2-F16 will be shown in this article.
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