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13.1: Example case study involving detectors characterization

  • Page ID
    45714
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    Outline for the creation of a Detector Characterization Laboratory

    Scott D. Johnson

    The assignment for this section:

    THIS IS A LECTURE/PROBLEM POSER, NOT YOUR ESSAY. You may use this as reference for numbers and facts, but DO NOT use this as a style reference. You are to write a technical essay following all the rules in class. This essay will be extensive (25 or more pages) so DON'T leave it to the last minute. The laboratory building must be done in a CAD, not by hand.


    Note: The numbers should be changed for different semesters (try to be challenging). If is possible that the numbers are not doable. That is part of the problem, though you should try to get close to the numbers suggested.

    The starting problem poser:

    The customer, an astronomer (scientist), has stated she wishes us to use our engineering expertise to pick an appropriate detector (or maybe detectors) for her astronomical purposes, test it for this purpose, and design the camera (instrument) along with components of a satellite to make an effective astronomical tool (imager and maybe spectrometer as well...we need to advise) at a high Earth orbit.

    The customer wishes the detector(s) to achieve the following minimum specifications which includes a dark current that must be < 0.001 e-/pixel/sec especially in the visible portion of the spectrum, a read noise that must be less than 2 e-, a spectral range cover the wavelengths between 100 nm (for the Lyman-alpha forest) to 14000 nm, and she would like for a resolution of 0.05 arcseconds in the UV and Vis, 1 arcseconds in the IR with a 1' for field of view all wavelengths. These requirements are just some of the requirements desired; we of course want to study the best device possible and will search for excellent quantum efficiency, dark current, and the like.

    To achieve the customer's wishes we will design a laboratory that will test the detector we advice her to purchase. We will also advise the customer on the design of the satellite and camera (instrument) with regards to the best way to use the detector.

    Our deliverable will be a report outlining the laboratory design along with our advice on the satellite and camera. Included in this report will be, at minimum, a CAD of the laboratory floor plan and a detail area maps (in particular the seismology of the chosen area).


    13.1: Example case study involving detectors characterization is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.