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At least 307 records · Page 17

A mosaic infrared sensor for space astronomy

The objectives were to give a theoretical and/or experimental evaluation of HgCdTe detector arrays (1 to 5 micron) for space astronomy applications; to analyze low background HgCdTe/CCD coupling schemes for low temperature space astronomy; and to test and evaluate existing silicon CCDs at temperatures below 77 K. The accomplishments are the theoretical tradeoffs for PV-HgCdTe detectors completed at low temperatures; the characterization of existing PV-HgCdTe detector arrays (1 to 5 Micron) at low temperatures (low temperature performance exceeds measurement capability, preamplifier designed and built, and limiting detector current mechanisms analyzed); various detector/CCD coupling approaches were evaluated (resettable gate coupled approach chosen for low background); and low temperature CCD performance at 50 K shows compatibility with astronomical requirements.

Sood, Ashok K.↗

Short wavelength infrared hybrid focal plane arrays

The employment of area focal plane arrays (FPA) has made it possible to obtain second generation infrared imaging systems with high resolution and sensitivity. The Short Wavelength Infrared (SWIR) region (1-2.5 microns) is of importance for imaging objects at high temperature and under conditions of reflected sunlight. The present investigation is concerned with electrooptical characterization results for 32 x 32 SWIR detector arrays and FPAs which are suitable for use in a prototype imaging spectrometer. The employed detector material is Hg(1-x)Cd(x)Te grown by liquid phase epitaxy on a CdTe transparent substrate. Attention is given to details of processing, the design of the detector array, the multiplexer, the fabrication of the hybrid FPA, and aspects of performance.

Vural, K.↗

Single-lens computed tomography imaging spectrometer and method of capturing spatial and spectral information

Computed tomography imaging spectrometers ("CTISs") employing a single lens are provided. The CTISs may be either transmissive or reflective, and the single lens is either configured to transmit and receive uncollimated light (in transmissive systems), or is configured to reflect and receive uncollimated light (in reflective systems). An exemplary transmissive CTIS includes a focal plane array detector, a single lens configured to transmit and receive uncollimated light, a two-dimensional grating, and a field stop aperture. An exemplary reflective CTIS includes a focal plane array detector, a single mirror configured to reflect and receive uncollimated light, a two-dimensional grating, and a field stop aperture.

Wilson, Daniel W.↗

Large scale telescopes for high resolution X-ray and gamma-ray astronomy

This paper shows that angular-resolution, energy-range, and structural constraints on image-modulated X-ray telescopes are not fundamental and that the limits on angular resolution can be overcome by constructing such telescopes on a very large spatial scale. It is proposed that widely separated satellites be used for the modulating mask and detector array. Implementation of this concept is discussed in terms of a simple system consisting of a pinhole camera (i.e., a hole in an opaque mask on one subsatellite and a detector array on another). Advantages and problems of such systems are briefly discussed, and a solar X-ray telescope intended for deployment from a Shuttle orbiter is described. It is noted that such large-scale telescopes can be constructed to image gamma rays and even energetic neutrons as well.

Hudson, H. S.↗

GaAs CCD readout for engineered bandgap detectors

GaAs and related heterostructure charge-coupled devices (CCDs) for detector array readout multiplexer applications are described. Features of resistive-gate CCDs are compared with capacitive-gate CCDs for this application. Design examples of GaAs CCD readouts for linear and two-dimensional detector arrays with different detection methods and signal coupling schemes are described. Recent progress in two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) Al(0.3)Ga(0.7)As/GaAs resistive-gate CCDs is also presented. The 2DEG resistive-gate CCD conventional buried-channel GaAs CCD.

Song, J.-I.↗

Extrinsic germanium Blocked Impurity Bank (BIB) detectors

Ge:Ga blocked-impurity-band (BIB) detectors with long wavelength thresholds greater than 190 microns and peak quantum efficiencies of 4 percent, at an operating temperature of 1.8 K, have been fabricated. These proof of concept devices consist of a high purity germanium blocking layer epitaxially grown on a Ga-doped Ge substrate. This demonstration of BIB behavior in germanium enables the development of far infrared detector arrays similar to the current silicon-based devices. Present efforts are focussed on improving the chemical vapor deposition process used to create the blocking layer and on the lithographic processing required to produce monolithic detector arrays in germanium. Approaches to test the impurity levels in both the blocking and active layers are considered.

Krabach, Timothy N.↗

Building A New Kind of Graded-Z Shield for Swift's Burst Alert Telescope

The Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) on Swift has a graded-Z Shield that closes out the volume between the coded aperture mask and the Cadmium-Zinc-Telluride (CZT) detector array. The purpose of the 37 kilogram shield is to attenuate gamma rays that have not penetrated the coded aperture mask of the BAT instrument and are therefore a major source of noise on the detector array. Unlike previous shields made from plates and panels, this shield consists of multiple layers of thin metal foils (lead, tantalum, tin, and copper) that are stitched together much like standard multi-layer insulation blankets. The shield sections are fastened around BAT, forming a curtain around the instrument aperture. Strength tests were performed to validate and improve the design, and the shield will be vibration tested along with BAT in late 2002. Practical aspects such as the layup design, methods of manufacture, and testing of this new kind of graded-Z Shield are presented.

Robinson, David W.↗

Analysis of the Advantages and Limitations of Stationary Imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer

New developments in infrared sensor technology have potentially made possible a new space-based system which can measure far-infrared radiation at lower costs (mass, power and expense). The Stationary Imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer (SIFTS) proposed by NASA Langley Research Center, makes use of new detector array technology. A mathematical model which simulates resolution and spectral range relationships has been developed for analyzing the utility of such a radically new approach to spectroscopy. Calculations with this forward model emulate the effects of a detector array on the ability to retrieve accurate spectral features. Initial computations indicate significant attenuation at high wavenumbers.

Beecken, Brian P.↗

Evaluation of the solar disk sextant concept

In this paper the viability of the solar disk sextant concept is evaluated, the optimum parameters required to carry out solar variability studies, which are the mission objectives, are derived. The experimental environment is first discussed, followed by the application of the finite Fourier transform definition (FFTD) to the detector array data. The requirements on the optical system are studied next. A computer program was carried out simulating solar edge data and FFTD. From this study, it is concluded that the required accuracy of measurement may be reached using currently available detector array technology, a focal ratio of the optical system in excess of 90, and an entrance aperture of 22 cm. The guidance error must be small enough to require no more than a correction rate of 0.1 arcsec/sec. All these conditions are well within current technology.

Chiu, H.-Y.↗

Using APART for wall visibility calculations in the calibration channel of wide field planetary camera II

The cone visibility from the CCD detector array plane in the calibration channel of wide field planetary camera II (WFPC II) is analyzed, using APART, for three representative wavelengths as characterized by indices of refraction. The light pipe walls are visible from the corners of the equivalent CCD detector array when imaging with the smallest index of refraction, n = 1.375. Painting the inside of the light pipe walls will result in a decrease in their visibility.

Scholl, James W.↗

Multiple detector focal plane array ultraviolet spectrometer for the AMPS laboratory

The possibility of meeting the requirements of the amps spectroscopic instrumentation by using a multi-element focal plane detector array in a conventional spectrograph mount was examined. The requirements of the detector array were determined from the optical design of the spectrometer which in turn depends on the desired level of resolution and sensitivity required. The choice of available detectors and their associated electronics and controls was surveyed, bearing in mind that the data collection rate from this system is so great that on-board processing and reduction of data are absolutely essential. Finally, parallel developments in instrumentation for imaging in astronomy were examined, both in the ultraviolet (for the Large Space Telescope as well as other rocket and satellite programs) and in the visible, to determine what progress in that area can have direct bearing on atmospheric spectroscopy.

Feldman, P. D.↗

Reducing the Read Noise of HAWAII-2RG Detector Systems with Improved Reference Sampling and Subtraction (IRS2)

IRS2 is a Wiener-optimal approach to using all of the reference information that Teledyne's HAWAII-2RG detector arrays provide. Using a new readout pattern, IRS2 regularly interleaves reference pixels with the normal pixels during readout. This differs from conventional clocking, in which the reference pixels are read out infrequently, and only in a few rows and columns around the outside edges of the detector array. During calibration, the data are processed in Fourier space, which is <;:lose to the noise's eigenspace. Using IRS2, we have reduced the read noise of the James Webb Space Telescope Near Infrared Spectrograph by 15% compared to conventional readout. We are attempting to achieve further gains by calibrating out recently recognized non-stationary noise that appears at the frame rate.

Rauscher, Bernard J.↗

Adaptive Wavelength Scanning Lidar (AWSL) for 3D Mapping from Space

We present the design and performance of an adaptive wavelength scanning lidar (AWSL) for highly efficient mapping from low Earth orbit (LEO). Mapping is accomplished by steering a laser beam across 1,200 resolvable spots using wavelength tuning and grating dispersion. Any subset of these 1,200 spots can be selected by wavelength switching. The design is validated with an 1550-nm prototype using a fast wavelength-tuned (500-kHz) pulsed (2-ns) fiber laser with the beam dispersed by gratings for beam steering. Reflected pulses are detected with an eight-pixel detector array with single-photon sensitivity. Eight lidar returns are time-multiplexed to one output that is digitized with a single 1-GSPS-digitizer, to save power. A grating spectrometer rejects solar background noise spatially and spectrally, and images laser footprints on to the detector array. The gratings retain the fiber laser beam quality. We are developing a 1030-nm AWSL intended for a LEO SmallSat platform.

Guangning Yang↗

IRAS comet observations - The continuing saga

IRAS observations of comets include photometry, spectroscopy, and multiple wavelength imagery. The large beam of the IRAS detector array, which was well suited to detect faint extended emissions of cometary origin, has produced a large data set that is complex to analyze. Although some preliminary results of the IRAS comet photometry have been published, definitive analysis must explicitly account for the convolution of the emission source with the nonuniform spatial response of the detector array. This paper reviews the progress made toward the production and subsequent analysis of instrument-free comet images, and presents the current state of the art IRAS images of comet Kopff.

Walker, R. G.↗

KSPEC-a near-infrared cross-dispersed spectrograph

KSPEC (k-band spectrograph) is an infrared spectrograph designed primarily for spectroscopy in the 2.0-2.5 micrometer region. It offers two different optical configurations. The first is a cross-dispersed echelle mode designed to cover the atmospheric windows from 1-2.5 micrometer in one spectral frame of a 256x256 format on a Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer-3 (NICMOS-3) HgCdTe detector array. This configuration of the spectrograph provides medium spectral resolution (lambda/delta-lambda approximately = 500) for spectral classification work, emission-line detection, and redshift measurements. Alternatively, KSPEC can be equipped with a different spectrograph camera, giving a long-slit, single-order spectrum from 2.05-2.35 micrometer. The instrument uses a second NICMOS-3 infrared detector array for slit viewing, to facilitate the acquisition of optically invisible objects, to document the slit position, and to monitor it during long spectroscopic integrations. KSPEC does not contain any moving components, making it a very reliable, relatively low-cost instrument that is easy to use.

Hodapp, Klaus-Werner↗

Honeywell multispectral linear array (MLA) instrument design A system overview

In support of NASA's Experimental Land Observing System, a simple, reliable and relatively inexpensive multispectral linear array (MLA) instrument concept has been developed. The design satisfies requirements for multichannel radiometry and wide field imaging. A reflective off-axis anastigmat telescope is mounted in a highly strength-to-weight efficient truss structure, coupled to a solid beamsplitter assembly. Attention is given to the optical design of the MLA instrument, the telescope structure, the detector arrays, detector cooling, on-orbit calibration, signal processing electronics, the spacecraft interfaces, the modulation transfer function, the signal-to-noise ratio, radiometric accuracy, and spatial registration.

Eyring, D.↗

Correlation Between Bulk Material Defects and Spectroscopic Response in Cadmium Zinc Telluride Detectors

One of the critical challenges for large area cadmium zinc telluride (CdZnTe) detector arrays is obtaining material capable of uniform imaging and spectroscopic response. Two complementary nondestructive techniques for characterizing bulk CdZnTe have been developed to identify material with a uniform response. The first technique, infrared transmission imaging, allows for rapid visualization of bulk defects. The second technique, x-ray spectral mapping, provides a map of the material spectroscopic response when it is configured as a planar detector. The two techniques have been used to develop a correlation between bulk defect type and detector performance. The correlation allows for the use of infrared imaging to rapidly develop wafer mining maps. The mining of material free of detrimental defects has the potential to dramatically increase the yield and quality of large area CdZnTe detector arrays.

Parker, Bradford H.↗