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Lecture CCD
Lecture CCD
Lecture CCD
CCD Introduction
A CCD is a two-dimensional array of metal-oxidesemiconductor (MOS) capacitors.
The charges are stored in the depletion region of the MOS
capacitors.
Charges are moved in the CCD circuit by manipulating the
voltages on the gates of the capacitors so as to allow the
charge to spill from one capacitor to the next (thus the name
charge-coupled device).
An amplifier provides an output voltage that can be processed.
The CCD is a serial device where charge packets are read one
at a time.
CCD Physics
Semiconductors
A conductor allows for the flow of electrons in the presence of
an electric field.
An insulator inpedes the flow of electrons.
A semiconductor becomes a conductor if the electrons are
excited to high enough energies, otherwise it is an insulator.
allows for a switch which can be on or off
allows for photo-sensitive circuits (photon absorption adds energy to
electron)
Periodic Table
Conduction band
Eg bandgap
1.24
co
Eg (eV )
Valence band
Semiconductor Dopants
PN Junctions
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11
12
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CCD Readout
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Bucket Brigade
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16
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Charge motion
Image area
(exposed to light)
Pixel
Charge motion
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CCD Clocking
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Charge packet
pixel
boundary
pixel
boundary
incoming
photons
Photons entering the CCD create electron-hole pairs. The electrons are then attracted
towards the most positive potential in the device where they create charge packets.
Each packet corresponds to one pixel
n-type silicon
Electrode Structure
p-type silicon
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+5V
1
2
3
0V
-5V
+5V
0V
-5V
+5V
0V
-5V
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+5V
1
2
3
0V
-5V
+5V
0V
-5V
+5V
0V
-5V
22
+5V
1
2
3
0V
-5V
+5V
0V
-5V
+5V
0V
-5V
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+5V
1
2
3
0V
-5V
+5V
0V
-5V
+5V
0V
-5V
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+5V
1
2
3
0V
-5V
+5V
0V
-5V
+5V
0V
-5V
25
26
27
28
29
30
CCD Enhancements
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32
34
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Incoming photons
p-type silicon
n-type silicon
Silicon dioxide insulating layer
Polysilicon electrodes
Incoming photons
625m
15m
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37
Sweep Field
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39
CCD Performance
40
41
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Well Capacity
Well capacity is defined as the maximum charge that can be
held in a pixel.
Saturation is the term that describes when a pixel has
accumulated the maximum amount of charge that it can hold.
The full well capacity in a CCD is typically a few hundred
thousand electrons per pixel for todays technologies.
A rough rule of thumb is that well capacity is about 10,000
electrons/um2.
The following gives a typical example (for a surface channel
CCD).
Q COX
nF
nC
e
pixel
boundary
Photons
pixel
boundary
Overflowing
charge packet
Spillage
Photons
Spillage
Blooming
44
Blooming Example
45
Read-Out Noise
Read noise is mainly due to Johnson noise in amplifier.
This noise can be reduced by reducing the bandwidth, but this
requires that readout is slower.
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
2
46
47
Bright
Column
Cluster of
Hot Spots
Cosmic rays
48
CTE
CTI
Cause of CTI:
charges are trapped (and later released) by defects in the silicon crystal lattice
49
good CTE
bad CTE
50
Example:
original image
after n transfers
51
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Dark Current
Dark current is generated when thermal effects cause an
electron to move from the valence band to the conduction
band.
The majority of dark current is created near the interface
between the Si and the SiO2, where interface states at energy
between the valence and conduction bands act as a stepping
stone for electrons.
CCDs can be operated at temperatures of around 140K, to
reduce thermal effects.
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10000
1000
100
10
1
-110
-100
-90
-80
-70
-60
Temperature Centigrade
-50
-40
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55
56
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Interference Fringes
In thinned CCDs there are interference effects caused by
multiple reflections within the silicon layer, or within the resin
which holds the CCD to a glass plate to flatten it.
These effects are classical thin film interference (Newtons
rings).
Only visible if there is strong line radiation in the passband,
either in the object or in the sky background.
Visible in the sky at wavelengths > 700nm.
Corrected by dividing by a scaled exposure of blank sky.
58
Examples of fringing
CCD Examples
60
1974 on an 8 telescope
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MegaCam
40 CCDs, 377 Mpixels, CFHT
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HST/WFC3
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66
67
68
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Wavefront Sensors
(4 locations)
Guide Sensors
(8 locations)
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