Title :
A novel high resolution, high frame rate detector based on a microchannel plate read out with the Medipix2 counting CMOS pixel chip
Author :
Mikulec, Bettina ; Clark, Allan G. ; Vallerga, John V. ; McPhate, Jason B. ; Tremsin, Anton S. ; Siegmund, Oswald H W
Author_Institution :
Geneva Univ., Switzerland
Abstract :
The future of ground-based optical astronomy lies with advancements in adaptive optics (AO) to overcome the limitations that the atmosphere places on high resolution imaging. A key technology for AO systems on future very large telescopes are the wavefront sensors (WFS) which detect the optical phase error and send corrections to deformable mirrors. Telescopes with >30 m diameters will require WFS detectors that have large pixel formats (512×512), low noise (<3 e-/pixel) and very high frame rates (∼1 kHz). These requirements have led to the idea of a bare CMOS active pixel device (the Medipix2 chip) functioning in counting mode as an anode with noiseless readout for a microchannel plate (MCP) detector. First measurement results obtained with this novel detector are presented both for UV photons and beta particles.
Keywords :
adaptive optics; beta-ray detection; microchannel plates; photon counting; position sensitive particle detectors; readout electronics; wavefront sensors; Medipix2 counting CMOS pixel chip; UV photons; WFS detectors; adaptive optics; atmosphere places; beta particles; deformable mirrors; ground-based optical astronomy; high frame rate detector; high resolution imaging; microchannel plate detector; noise; noiseless readout; optical phase error; photon counting; telescopes; wavefront sensors; Adaptive optics; Astronomy; Atmosphere; CMOS image sensors; Detectors; High-resolution imaging; Microchannel; Optical noise; Optical sensors; Telescopes;
Conference_Titel :
Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, 2004 IEEE
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-8700-7
Electronic_ISBN :
1082-3654
DOI :
10.1109/NSSMIC.2004.1466918
