e2v CC
CD and CMOS sensors
s
aand systems desiigned fo r astron
nomical
ap
pplicatio
ons
Paul Jordden*, Paul Jerram,
J
Douug Jordan, Jérôme
J
Prattlong, Markk Robbins
e2v techhnologies, 106
1 Waterhoouse Lane, Chelmsford
d, Essex, CM
M1 2QU
A
ABSTRACT
T
nge of sensorss and systems, with CCD and
a CMOS seensors. We describe
d
recennt
e2v continues to evolve itts product ran
ponents. Seveeral low noise backthinnedd
developmentss of high performance imaage sensors aand precision system comp
CMOS sensoors have beenn developed for
f scientific aapplications. CCDs have become
b
largerr whilst retain
ning very low
w
noise and higgh quantum effficiency. Exaamples of senssors and sub-ssystems are prresented includding the recen
ntly completedd
1.2 GigaPixell J-PAS cryoggenic camera.
Keywords: C
CCD, CMOS, sensor, EMCCD, backthinnned, FPA, cry
yogenic camerra system
1. IN
NTRODUC
CTION
p
on seeveral importaant developm
ments of both sensors
s
and syystems for asttronomy. Thee
In this paper we describe progress
me is that of high
h
performan
nce and reliabble manufactu
ure. In a previious paper1 wee described seelected sensorss
common them
and many of these have noow completed
d developmennt. The e2v web
w site2 proviides datasheetts for those seensors that aree
considered prroduction devvices; in otherr cases sensorrs are provideed to custom order.
o
In all cases e2v executes designn,
manufacture, assembly andd test in-housee (only using ooutside foundries for its CM
MOS productss).
2. CM
MOS SENSO
ORS ACHIIEVE MAT
TURITY
S sensors for space, astron
nomy, and commercial m
markets. Mostt of these aree
e2v designs and manufacctures CMOS
backthinned aand have low noise for high sensitivity. The followin
ng sections illu
ustrate some rrecently developed sensorss,
many of whicch are now givven identifyin
ng names (rathher than just paart numbers).
2.1 CIS113 ((Vega)
The TAOS-III project requuires a large arrea mosaic seensor capable of 20 fps reaadout with muultiple regionss-of-interest inn
order to detect Trans-Nepttunian-Objectts by occultattion. The Veg
ga device is a 3-side buttabble CMOS (A
APS) sensor too
allow a large focal plane capable
c
of the required readdout rate. Ten
n sensors will form the com
mplete focal plane assemblyy
3
(FPA) and thrree telescopess each with their own FPA will be built. Another papeer describes thhe prototype cameras
c
. Thee
figures below
w illustrate thee device and th
he spectral ressponse (of the backthinned sensor).
Figure 1. Backthinned Veega sensor in buttable pacckage
Figure 2.
2 Spectral reesponse of Veega
The developm
ment phase is
i now comp
plete and the production phase
p
(for thee set of 40 ssensors is un
nderway) withh
completion exxpected earlyy in 2017. Outtline details ar
are presented below
b
and mo
ore details of the sensor are presented inn
another paperr4.
Proc SPIIE 9915-3, 20166, High Energy, Optical and Innfrared Detecto
ors for Astronom
my VII, AS16 cconference
P1
Table 1. Summary information
Number of pixels
Pixel size
Image area
Output ports (each with REF and SIG)
Package size
Package format
Focal plane height, above mounting surface
Flatness
1920 (H) × 4608 (V)
16.0 µm square
73.728 mm × 30.72 mm
8
82.39 mm × 31.7 mm
76 pin ceramic pin grid array attached to invar block
14.0 mm
< 30 µm (peak to valley)
Conversion gain
75 µV/e−
Readout noise
Maximum pixel data rate
3 e− at 2 MP/s per channel
2 MP/s per channel
Maximum charge per pixel
22,000 e−
Dark signal
70 e−/pixel/s (at 21 °C)
2 fps in full frame mode; 20 fps with multiple ROI’s
Frame rate
2.2 CIS112 (NGSD)
Adaptive optics for the new generation of extremely large telescopes requires correspondingly large sensors together
with high frame rate. Since only CMOS architecture (rather than CCD) can provide a large number of pixels and high
frame rate e2v has developed a high performance backthinned CMOS sensor designed originally for Natural Guide Star
use. This sensor is the precursor of an intended larger device of four times the area. The sensor has very low read noise
for high sensitivity.
The “NGSD” CIS112 sensor is illustrated below.
Figure 3. 880 X 840 CIS112
Only minimal information is presented here, since another paper5 describes the sensor more fully.
Table 2. Summary information
Number of pixels
Pixel size
Image area
Output
Package format
880 X 840
24.0 µm square
21.12 mm × 20.16 mm
Digital; multiple parallel ADCs
Ceramic PGA
Readout noise
Variants
3 e−
> 85% at 589 nm
Maximum charge per pixel
4,000 e−
Proc SPIE 9915-3, 2016, High Energy, Optical and Infrared Detectors for Astronomy VII, AS16 conference
P2
2.3 Onyx EV
V76C664
This sensor iss sold by e2v as a standard
d product for ccommercial ap
pplications. However
H
sincee it has low noise
n
can be of
interest for asstronomical use.
u
Full details of this sopphisticated dig
gital sensor arre available onn the datasheeet2. Summaryy
information is shown below
w.
Figure 4. On
nyx 1.3 MegaP
Pixel sensor
mmary descriiption of Ony
yx sensor
Table 3. Sum
Number of pixels
Pixel sizze
Shutter modes
m
Output
Package format
3 Megapixel)
128 0 X 1024 (1.3
10.00 µm square
Globbal and Rollin
ng
8, 1 0, 12, 14 bit LVDS
L
Ceraamic 67-pin PGA
P
Readout noise
Quantum
m Efficiency
6 e− (min, depending on modee)
Monnochrome or sparse
s
colour (with microleens)
Maximuum charge per pixel
16,0000 e−
2.4 CIS115 ((Sirius)
This sensor iss also backthinnned, offers lo
ow read noisee, and has been developed for
f space appllications, inclu
uding the ESA
A
JANUS (Juicce) mission. Itt is currently being
b
qualifieed for space usse. Initially saample quantitties are being supplied, withh
further quanttities of Flight Models to follow,
f
with pparameters as presented beelow. Radiatioon tests, endu
urance, storagee
temperature, thermal cyclinng, and shock
k & vibration ttests are underrway with resu
ults expected by end-2016.
Figure 5. Sirrius sensor
Proc SPIIE 9915-3, 20166, High Energy, Optical and Innfrared Detecto
ors for Astronom
my VII, AS16 cconference
P3
Table 4. Sum
mmary of Siriius features
Number off pixels
Pixel size
Number off output ports (reset and signnal pins)
Package size
Package foormat
Flatness
1504(H) × 200
00(V)
7.0 µm square
4 pairs of analo
ogue outputs
48.26 mm squaare
140 pin ceramiic pin grid arraay
< 10 µm (peak to valley)
Conversionn gain
35 µV/e−
Readout nooise
7 e− (Rolling sh
hutter)
Maximum pixel data rate
8 MP/s per chaannel
Maximum charge per pixel
55,000 e−
Up
U to 10 Hz
Frame ratee
Minimum time
t
to read and
a readout onne line at
6·2 MP/s
Frame ratee at full resoluttion
66.25 µs
Up
U to 7.5 fps
2.5 TDI CM
MOS developm
ment
As another sttrand of CMO
OS imager dev
velopment, e2vv is in the pro
ocess of building such senssors with TDI (Time-DelayIntegrate) arcchitectures. TDI
T CCDs are commonly uused for scann
ning applicatio
ons in space suuch as the GA
AIA telescopee.
The addition of TDI to a CMOS
C
imager allows increaased sensitivity
y together witth the advantaages of a digittal architecturee
and low pow
wer consumptiion. See IISW
W 2015 paperr “CMOS Charge transfer TDI with froont side enhan
nced quantum
m
efficiency” byy F Mayer on e2v web site2.
Several technniques have beeen reviewed and the most promising tecchnique appeaars to be makking a CCD-lik
ke structure too
allow charge summation allong the track
k. An importannt issue is ach
hieving good charge
c
transferr especially affter irradiationn
(as required ffor space use)). Small test devices have been manufaactured and ch
haracterized aafter irradiatio
on; these show
w
good promisee and the next step will be to design a fulll-sized devicee (including hiigh-speed AD
DC). See figurees below.
ADC
ADC
C
ADC
ADC
Figure 6. Ch
harge summaation along piixel
Proc SPIIE 9915-3, 20166, High Energy, Optical and Innfrared Detecto
ors for Astronom
my VII, AS16 cconference
P4
Figure 7. Concept of TDII CMOS (testt device)
2.6 CIS111 ((MTG FCI)
This is an exaample of a CM
MOS imager designed
d
for eearth observatiion where it offers
o
higher fr
frame rate and
d less crosstalkk
than an equivvalent CCD.
The CIS111 is to be usedd on the Meteosat Third Geeneration Flex
xible Combin
ned Imager. Itt has 5 indepeendent imager
blocks with iin-package fillters. Outer blocks
b
have rhhombus-shapeed pixels. CV
VF values varyy from 0.8- 8 µV/e- to suiit
illumination level. Chargee transfer path
hs are optimizzed to speed transfer throu
ugh the largee pixels and avoid
a
lag. Seee
figure below.
S111 architeccture
Figure 8. CIS
2.7 CIS116 ((Metimage)
Another custoom test vehiclle is the CIS116 which hass 250 µm squaare pixels each
h one of whicch has 8 photo
odiodes with a
common sensse node. The main target iss to optimize lag and CVF with variantss of transfer ggates and phottodiode shapee.
Peak signal is 2.5 Me- with
w
84 dB dynamic
d
rangee. Designed for
f backthinn
ning. The testt device has recently beenn
characterizedd. See illustrattion of pixel below.
b
Proc SPIIE 9915-3, 20166, High Energy, Optical and Innfrared Detecto
ors for Astronom
my VII, AS16 cconference
P5
S116 pixels
Figure 9. CIS
3. C
CCD SENS
SORS
In this sectioon we illustraate selected seensors with pparticular featu
ures of curren
nt interest to astronomers.. Many other
2
sensors can bbe seen on thhe e2v web pages
p
. Heree we describee several EMCCDs offerinng exceptionaally low noisee
together withh traditional CCD
C
performaance in terms of uniformity
y and high speectral responsee. e2v also manufactures
m
a
range of stanndard backthinnned sensors with very low
w noise and formats
f
rangin
ng from 1K X 1K up to 9K
K X 9K. e2vv
continues to specialize in design and manufacture
m
off a wide rang
ge of custom sensors desiggned for spacee applicationss;
many of thesee recent ones were
w illustrateed in a previouus paper1.
3.1 CCD2011
This sensor iis an e2v stanndard productt. It is used w
widely for com
mmercial applications, inclluding life sciience imagingg
cameras at veery low light level.
l
It utilizes the e2v L3 Vision or EM
MCCD technology to achievve sub-electron
n noise in a 1kk
X 1k backthinnned format sensor.
s
Thesee sensors havee also been ussed for astrono
omical applicaations either for
f high framee
rate (with low
w noise) or foor very low signal
s
applicattions. In partticular, it has been evaluatted for potenttial use on thee
NASA WFIR
RST coronagraaph6, 7. Furtheer informationn is available on
o the datasheeet2.
3.2 CCD2822
This sensor hhas been develloped with thee EMCCD arcchitecture for very
v
low noise photon counnting and is th
he largest suchh
device manuffactured to datte. The sensor has been desscribed previo
ously8 and is illlustrated beloow.
Figure 10. CCD282
The sensor ooffers a 4K X 4K image fo
ormat, in fram
me-transfer arcchitecture witth eight outpuuts for rapid read-out.
r
It iss
backthinned aand optimizedd for photon counting
c
with very low leveels of parallell clock-induceed charge; thiss latter featuree
can be a perfoormance limittation for such
h applications.. Its developm
ment is complete.
Proc SPIIE 9915-3, 20166, High Energy, Optical and Innfrared Detecto
ors for Astronom
my VII, AS16 cconference
P6
3.3 CCD3511
This sensor is the latest inn the suite of e2v L3Visionn commercial sensors, whicch has recentlly been develo
oped. It offerss
backthinned spectral respoonse, very low
w noise, togetther with large area and video-rate readoout. This sen
nsor is now inn
production, w
with datasheet due for publication immineently. See illu
ustration and ty
ypical perform
mance below.
D351 (not fin
nal version)
Figure 11. Paackage illustrration of CCD
Table 5. CCD
D351 Typicall performancce
Image sectionn
1024 x 1024
Pixel size
10 µm × 10 µm
Active imagee area
10.24 × 10.24 mm
Package size
22.86 × 28.00 mm
Amplifier ressponsivity
3.5 µV//e−
Readout noise
< 1 e- (with EM gainn)
Multiplicationn gain
100-100
00 typical
Output data rrate
37 MHzz
Active pixel ccharge storagee
35 ke-/p
pixel
Dark signal (18°C)
100 e-/p
pixel/s
4. PR
RECISION
N SYSTEM
M ASSEMB
BLIES
ment of sub-systems to coomplement itss suite of sen
nsors. Such suub-systems arre supplied too
e2v continuees its developm
plication. Herre we highligh
ht a few exam
mples.
custom order and optimizeed for each app
4.1 WUVS
h) consists of high-resolutio
h
on spectrograp
phs to be usedd
The WUVS ((World Spacee Observatory Ultra-Violet Spectrograph
on a 2m spacce telescope. e2v is supply
ying sensors coovering the UV
U (115-310 nm)
n range witth three chann
nels integratedd
into custom ssealed enclosuures together with flight eleectronics (asssociated with RAL Space) iin a three yeaar programmee.
The figures bbelow illustratee the custom enclosure
e
conncept, and the triple detectorr system conceept.
Key features include: UV optimised
o
sen
nsors, vacuum cryostat detecctor enclosurees, electronic ddrive moduless, interconnecct
cabling. Thee CCDs are maintained
m
at -100ºC
whilst contributing no more than
n 3W. Outgasssing must be minimal for 9
years of use. The componnents are desig
gned to withsstand shock and
a vibration of launch andd maintain aliignment. Thee
instrument is also described in a paper at this conferennce10.
Proc SPIIE 9915-3, 20166, High Energy, Optical and Innfrared Detecto
ors for Astronom
my VII, AS16 cconference
P7
WUVS custom
m sensor enclo
osure and CC
CD272
Figure 12. W
WUVS triple detector
d
layou
ut with cameera electroniccs units
Figure 13. W
4.2 KMTNeet (Ohio)
The Korea m
micro-lensing telescope nettwork consistss of three teleescopes each with its ownn camera for monitoring of
micro-lensingg events in thee galactic bulg
ge. Each cameera has four CCD290
C
senso
ors to form a 3340 megapixeel mosaic. e2vv
has designed, constructed and delivered
d the three asssembled FPA
As as illustrateed below. Thhe FPAs are integrated
i
intoo
cryogenic cam
meras built byy Ohio State University.
U
The focal plaane flatness is
i better than 30 µm acrosss the 300 mm
m diameter. See a previoous paper forr some further
information oon the assembly1 together with
w a paper at this meeting11.
Figure 14. K
KMTNet focall plane, with CCD290 scieence sensor an
nd CCD47 gu
uider
Proc SPIIE 9915-3, 20166, High Energy, Optical and Innfrared Detecto
ors for Astronom
my VII, AS16 cconference
P8
4.3 JPAS Crryocam
e2v has just ccompleted thee manufacturee of a 1.2 Gigg pixel cryogeenic camera fo
or use on the OAJ telescop
pe operated byy
CEFCA (Spaain). This JPA
AS camera hass been describbed in outline previously12 and
a its perform
rmance (after completion)
c
iss
fully detailedd in a paper at this meeting133.
Key features of the cryogennic camera are presented beelow together with figures illustrating
i
thee camera.
e J-PAS cry
yocam
Table 6. Keyy features of e2v
450 mm focaal plane diameter
-1
100ºC operatinng temperaturre
Stable to +/- 00.5ºC
27 µm peak-vvalley flatnesss
Measured
M
at -1 00C
Stable againsst gravitational flexure
14 science CC
CD290-99 sennsors
1..2 Gig pixels
9K X 9K sennsors
8 wavefront ssensors
CCD44-82
C
FT
Custom packa
kages
4 guide sensoors
CCD47-20
C
FT
Custom packa
kages
Integrated eleectronics
22
24 science chaannels
< 5 e- read-nooise at 400 kH
Hz
Modular CCD
D drive units
Sy
ynchronized rreadout of scieence CCDs
Local frame sstores
Complete LN
N2 cooling sysstem
In
ntegrated vacuuum system
Post-deliveryy support
Cold light bafffle
High
H
QE/ minim
mum reflectio
on AR
photograph off camera
Figure 15. J--PAS Cryocam (a) exploded view (b) p
5.
SUMMA
ARY
e2v has a siignificant herritage of supp
plying high pperformance backthinned silicon CCD sensors to the
t space andd
astronomy coommunity. Inn recent yearrs an increasinng number of CMOS senssors have beeen developed all with highh
specificationss and multiplee features for differing appplications. To
o complementt the supply oof sensors e2v
v has suppliedd
Proc SPIIE 9915-3, 20166, High Energy, Optical and Innfrared Detecto
ors for Astronom
my VII, AS16 cconference
P9
various sub-system solutions with customized design and detector-limited high performance. These components form
building blocks for future supply of sensors and systems to well defined specifications and a strong in-house supply
chain.
REFERENCES
[1] Jorden P R, Jordan D, Jerram P, Pratlong J, Swindells I, “e2v new CCD and CMOS technology developments for
astronomical sensors,” Proc SPIE 9154, (2014).
[2] e2v web site, 2016, http://www.e2v.com (2016)
[3] Wang Shiang-Yu, et al, “The prototype cameras for trans-Neptunian automatic occultation survey,” Proc SPIE 9908,
(2016).
[4] Pratlong J, et al “A 9 megapixel large-area back-thinned CMOS sensor with high sensitivity and high frame-rate for
the TAOS II program,” Proc SPIE 9915, (2016)
[5] Downing M, et al, “LGSD/NGSD: High Speed Visible CMOS Imagers for E-ELT Adaptive Optics,” Proc SPIE
9915, (2016)
[6] Harding L, et al, “Technology advancement of the CCD201-20 EMCCD for the WFIRST-AFTA Coronagraph
Instrument…,” JATIS 011007, (2016).
[7] Bush N, et al, “Cryogenic Irradiation of an EMCCD for the WFIRST Coronagraph,” Proc SPIE 9904, (2016)
[8] Gach Jean-Luc, et al, “Development of a 4kx4k frame transfer electron multiplying CCD for scientific applications,”
Proc SPIE 9154, (2014).
[9] Dekany R, “The Zwicky Transient Facility observing system,” Proc SPIE 9908, (2016).
[10] Panchuk V, “Optical design of WUVS instrument:WSO_UV spectrographs,” Proc SPIE 9905, (2016).
[11] Moon Dae-Sik, “Supernovae and optical transient observations using ..KMTNet,” Proc SPIE 9906, (2016)
[12] Taylor K, et al, “JPCAM: a 1.2 GPixel camera for the J-PAS survey,” JAI vol3, no 1, (2014)
[13] Robbins M S, et al “Performance of the e2v 1.2 GPixel cryogenic camera for the J-PAS 2.5m survey telescope,”
Proc SPIE 9908, (2016).
Proc SPIE 9915-3, 2016, High Energy, Optical and Infrared Detectors for Astronomy VII, AS16 conference
P10