Technology advancement of the CCD201-20 EMCCD for the WFIRST coronagraph instrument: sensor characterization and radiation damage

Abstract

The Wide Field InfraRed Survey Telescope-Astrophysics Focused Telescope Asset (WFIRST-AFTA) mission is a 2.4-m class space telescope that will be used across a swath of astrophysical research domains. JPL will provide a high-contrast imaging coronagraph instrument - one of two major astronomical instruments. In order to achieve the low noise performance required to detect planets under extremely low flux conditions, the electron multiplying charge-coupled device (EMCCD) has been baselined for both of the coronagraph's sensors - the imaging camera and integral field spectrograph. JPL has established an EMCCD test laboratory in order to advance EMCCD maturity to technology readiness level-6. This plan incorporates full sensor characterization, including read noise, dark current, and clock-induced charge. In addition, by considering the unique challenges of the WFIRST space environment, degradation to the sensor's charge transfer efficiency will be assessed, as a result of damage from high-energy particles such as protons, electrons, and cosmic rays. Science-grade CCD201-20 EMCCDs have been irradiated to a proton fluence that reflects the projected WFIRST orbit. Performance degradation due to radiation displacement damage is reported, which is the first such study for a CCD201-20 that replicates the WFIRST conditions. In addition, techniques intended to identify and mitigate radiation-induced electron trapping, such as trap pumping, custom clocking, and thermal cycling, are discussed.

arXiv commentPublished in the J. Astron. Telesc. Instrum. Syst. 2(1), 011007 (2016), 31 pages, 18 figures, 9 tables

Cited by in corpus (18)

• Atmospheric Retrieval for Direct Imaging Spectroscopy of Gas Giants In Reflected Light II: Orbital Phase and Planetary Radius
• Characterization of Exoplanet Atmospheres with the Optical Coronagraph on WFIRST
• Detectors and cooling technology for direct spectroscopic biosignature characterization
• Flight mask designs of the Roman Space Telescope Coronagraph Instrument
• Simulations and Design of a Single-Photon CMOS Imaging Pixel Using Multiple Non-Destructive Signal Sampling
• Prospects for Directly Imaging Young Giant Planets at Optical Wavelengths
• Space Technology for Directly Imaging and Characterizing Exo-Earths
• The Analytical Performance Model and Error Budget for the Roman Coronagraph Instrument
• Information-theoretical Limits of Recursive Estimation and Closed-loop Control in High-contrast Imaging
• Flight masks of the Roman Space Telescope Coronagraph Instrument
• Reduced Order Estimation of the Speckle Electric Field History for Space-Based Coronagraphs
• Simulating the WFIRST coronagraph Integral Field Spectrograph
• Statistics of electron-multiplying charge-coupled devices
• Performance Calibration of the Wavefront Sensor's EMCCD Detector for the Cool Planets Imaging Coronagraph Aboard CSST
• The Signal-to-Noise Ratio for Photon Counting After Photometric Corrections
• Pre-flare and active region plasma flows and structure seen by the short wavelength camera on SOLAR-C/EUVST
• Photometric Stability of an EMCCD Camera at 1-s Exposures
• Characterization of the Cherenkov Photon Background for Low-Noise Silicon Detectors in Space