Future space observatories dedicated to direct imaging and spectroscopy of extra-solar planets will require ultra-low-noise detectors that are sensitive over a broad range of wavelengths. Silicon charge-coupled devices (CCDs), such as EMCCDs, Skipper CCDs, and Multi-Amplifier Sensing CCDs, have demonstrated the ability to detect and measure single photons from ultra-violet to near-infrared wavelengths, making them candidate technologies for this application. In this context, we study a relatively unexplored source of low-energy background coming from Cherenkov radiation produced by energetic charged particles traversing a silicon detector. In the intense radiation environment of space, energetic cosmic rays produce high-energy tracks and more extended halos of low-energy Cherenkov photons, which are detectable with ultra-low-noise detectors. We present a model of this effect that is calibrated to laboratory data, and we use this model to characterize the residual background rate for ultra-low noise silicon detectors in space. We find that the rate of cosmic-ray-induced Cherenkov photon production is comparable to other detector and astrophysical backgrounds that have previously been considered.
KEYWORDS: Transistors, Charge-coupled devices, Silicon, Sensors, Field effect transistors, Electrons, CCD image sensors, Electric fields, Windows, Signal to noise ratio
We study the amplifier light emission of a set of MOSFET transistors with different Drain-Source to Gate (DS-G) distances using a dedicated Skipper-CCD sensor with single photon resolution. This light emission comes in the form of near-infrared photons produced on the Skipper’s readout stage by "hot electrons" generated in the output transistor. Depending on the applied voltages, this effect can be very faint generating only a few photons or produce a noticeable glow that can greatly impact the quality of the CCD images. A dedicated sensor with four output transistors and a different Drain-Source to Gate distance in each of them was specifically designed and fabricated at Teledyne/DALSA in order to study this phenomenon. Two different methods to characterize photons from the amplifier were explored. The first one takes advantage of the Skipper’s spatial resolution to study the total number of photons being emitted and how they propagate through silicon in the active area. The second one uses the single-electron counting mode of the device to measure the rate at which photons are emitted only in the readout stage.
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