Project 1640 Detector System

 

At the heart of the detector system will be a Rockwell Hawaii-II 2048x2048 pixel HgCdTe infra-red array, operating at cryogenic temperatures. This is an "engineering grade" device, that has three out of four quadrants working. Initial tests indicate that aside from the dead quandrant, the characteristics of this detector are similar to those of the science grade device used in DAZLE .

Operation of the chip will be handled by a Generation III infra-red arrray controller designed and built by Astronomical Research Cameras Inc . This system has already been tested both warm and cold at the IoA, and is fully functional.

Software to drive the detector and take images has kindly been provided by Derek Ives and his colleagues at the Astronomy Technology Centre at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh. This system was initially developed to drive the CCD used in Ultracam , a high time-resolution visible waveband imager developed by Vik Dhillon at the University of Sheffield, and is also used to drive the DAZLE detector.

Design of the detector printed circuit board (PCB) has been developed by Steve Medlen, who previously designed the DAZLE PCB.

Here is a picture of the Project 1640 PCB

And the detector in our test cryostat at the IoA

This is the detector controller attached to the outside of our test cryostat at the IoA

 

Created by David King on 30 January, 2007