Abstract
Multianode microchannel arrays (MAMAs) are a family of digital photon-counting imaging arrays designed specifically for use in space. Two MAMAs with formats of 1024×1024 pixels were included in the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) to cover the far-ultraviolet (FUV) from 115 to 170 nm and the near-ultraviolet (NUV) from 165 to 310 nm. STIS was installed on orbit in the Hubble Space Telescope in February 1997. The flight-spare FUV MAMA was installed on orbit in the Advanced Camera for Surveys in March 2002, and the flight-spare NUV MAMA was installed on orbit in the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph in May 2009. This paper describes the construction, modes of operation, and on-orbit performances of the MAMAs and the resulting lessons for future space astrophysics missions.
Highlights
Multianode microchannel arrays (MAMAs) are a family of digital photoelectric detector systems designed for use in space
The following sections of this paper describe the construction, modes of operation, and on-orbit performances of the MAMAs, and the lessons of this unprecedented period of long-term operation in space for future astrophysics missions are discussed
Straight channel microchannel plate (MCP) must be mounted in stacks in order to provide the electron gains of 105 or greater required by electronic readout systems without Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems 030901-1
Summary
Multianode microchannel arrays (MAMAs) are a family of digital photoelectric detector systems designed for use in space. Discrete-anode arrays each have pixel electrodes connected to an individual amplifier and counting circuit This limits the total number of pixels to a few hundred because of the limitations of connector technology and the size and power requirements of the electronics.[1,2] In order to provide the 105 to 106 pixels required for astrophysics missions, coincidenceanode arrays were developed.[3] The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) employs three imaging array detectors.[4] First, a back side–illuminated (1024 × 1024) pixel chargecoupled device (CCD), fabricated by Scientific Imaging Technologies, covers the visible region from ∼305 nm to the edge of the near-infrared at ∼1.0 μm. The following sections of this paper describe the construction, modes of operation, and on-orbit performances of the MAMAs, and the lessons of this unprecedented period of long-term operation in space for future astrophysics missions are discussed
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