PAU camera: detectors characterization

Abstract

The PAU Camera (PAUCam) [1,2] is a wide field camera that will be mounted at the corrected prime focus of the William Herschel Telescope (Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, Canary Islands, Spain) in the next months. The focal plane of PAUCam is composed by a mosaic of 18 CCD detectors of 2,048 x 4,176 pixels each one with a pixel size of 15 microns, manufactured by Hamamatsu Photonics K. K. This mosaic covers a field of view (FoV) of 60 arcmin (minutes of arc), 40 of them are unvignetted. The behaviour of these 18 devices, plus four spares, and their electronic response should be characterized and optimized for the use in PAUCam. This job is being carried out in the laboratories of the ICE/IFAE and the CIEMAT. The electronic optimization of the CCD detectors is being carried out by means of an OG (Output Gate) scan and maximizing it CTE (Charge Transfer Efficiency) while the read-out noise is minimized. The device characterization itself is obtained with different tests. The photon transfer curve (PTC) that allows to obtain the electronic gain, the linearity vs. light stimulus, the full-well capacity and the cosmetic defects. The read-out noise, the dark current, the stability vs. temperature and the light remanence.