Visual-Infrared Detector Controller And New Detectors 

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Figure 1:

 A third generation of detector controllers able to handle devices from the two dominant technologies in the visible and spectral domain (i.e. CCD and multiplexed readout) has been recently developed. The name of the project is VISIR-C, I.E. Visual-IR detector controller. Major benefits of this system are:

  • the complete remote programmability of the main parameters (Bias voltages, Clock voltages and timing) affecting the performance of a typical CMOS or CCD technology-based detector
  • the ability to operate multiple detectors
  • the increased achievable frame rate as a consequence of the faster analog devices employed and of the faster command/data link implemented (1.2 Gbaud fibre optics bus).

The controller can be interfaced to a standard PC or VME/CPCI crate through a PCI or PMC interface. In the last version of this system even L3CCD can be handled. L3CCD compared to conventional CCD adds a "high voltage" gain register to the standard output register making it is possible to multiply the electrons generated by the incident photons. In principle these new devices are able to detect single electrons making it possible to work with very weak signals. Observations based on rapidly varying faint signals, or high resolution spectroscopy and interferometry could benefit from this technology. The CCD imagery electronics at the TNG telescope is under refurbishment with the last version of the controller, a system has been already implemented for the DOLORES spectrograph.

People: F. Bortoletto, M. D'Alessandro, G. Farisato, E. Giro

Collaboration: INAF OA Catania, Skytech (LaSpezia)

Publications: Bortoletto et al. (2005), Astrophysics and Space Science Library 336,679; Bortoletto et al. (2006), SPIE Proc., 6269

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