Astronomical Instrumentation and Observational Methods

Timo Anguita
 Detectors and receivers
Electronic
Detectors Photon Detectors:
Solid State Detectors
 general
● The most common of detectors: radio to X-ray
● They work by using the interaction of photons with bound electrons in atoms.
The atoms on the other hand are bound in a crystalline lattice.
● Innermost electrons and corresponding lowest energy states essentially not
influenced
● Outer electrons, characterized by overlappingwavefunctions, are strongly
modified.
 general
● Interaction with adjacent atoms 🡪 overlapping wavefunctions 🡪 Pauli exclusion
principle 🡪 broad energy bands are formed
● As in the case of discrete energy levels in a free atom, intermediate energy
states are forbidden and empty.
● Highest occupied energy bands (responsible for chemical reactions) = valence
bands
● If an energy band is not fully occupied 🡪 energy supply 🡪 electrons can be
lifted to higher energies 🡪 movement or electric current 🡪 conduction bands
 general
● Relative location between the
valence and conduction bands
determines the conductive
properties of a solid:
○ Metal: (no "distance" between
conduction and valence bands)
○ Semiconductor
○ Insulating
● These last two have a "gap"
between the bands
Schematic diagram for different solids:
E F is the Fermi energy.
 general
● metals
○ Small number of external electrons that are easily released forming ions
○ They have positive ion structure immersed in a sea of free electrons 🡪 electrons reach the
conduction band with extremely low external stimulation
● insulators, semiconductors
○ V and C bands separated by an energy gap E g
■ Semiconductor: E g < 5eV
○ With a few exceptions, only semiconductors are of interest for photon detection.
■ Metals: reflect most of the radiation
■ Insulators: Photoelectric effect only increases the charges
 general
● Probability of finding an electron at an
(allowed) energy level E:
○ The f(E) distribution of electrons follows a
Fermi-Dirac statistic

○ E F : Fermi energy, depends on the material

○ eg: f(E F )=0.5 🡪 E F is the energy at which the
probability that the corresponding energy level
is occupied is 0.5 Probability distribution of an
electron f(E) as a function of T,
compared to the energy band
diagram
 general

● T>0: Probability of finding an electron in the conduction band of a

semiconductor or an insulator ≠ 0
● The probability decreases when the energy increases
○ Very low for insulators at low temperatures
● At a sufficient temperature, any crystalline solid will show significant
conductivity.
● Example: Conductivity of glass at 10 3 K ≈ Si 10 2 K
 semiconductors
● Spectral response of intrinsic semiconductors is limited to photons that have
energy equal to or greater than the gap.
Cut-off energy (frequency): E cut-off =h ν cut-off ≥E g =h ν g (corresponds to a λ max )
● Above E cut-off : Very efficient process (RQE≤90%)
● Not suitable for λ ≥ 15 μ

Gaps and cut-off wavelengths for

different semiconductors
 Semiconductors
● Doped Semiconductors
○ Conductivity can be modified by implanting small concentrations of atoms with different numbers
of valence electrons in the semiconductor lattice.
○ Example: Sb (5 valence e- ) in Si or Ge lattice

○ Only four e - used 🡪 extra electron has very low binding energy (<50 meV) and large orbit
 semiconductors
○ The thermal energy of the network is sufficient to release these extra e- to
the conduction band 🡪 increase in conductivity
○ n-type doped semiconductor: One additional electron 🡪 Increased E F
relative to intrinsic semiconductor
○ Called "donor"
 semiconductors
● p-type semiconductor: group III atom in group IV lattice
● Acquiring an additional surface electron from the valence band 🡪
creating a positively charged “hole” in the electron distribution in the
valence band 🡪 “unfilled” valence band 🡪 can carry a current that
can be ascribed to the movement of “holes” ” positive.
● Called "acceptor"
● Hole has a very low binding energy (<50meV)
● The Fermi level E F reduced relative to that of the intrinsic
semiconductor.
 semiconductors
● n-type “extra electrons” have
extended orbits that overlap even
at very small values of impurity
concentration (up to 10 -8 ) 🡪
doped semiconductors have
additional energy bands
(“impurity bands”) that are
located between the valence and
conduction band
● Extrinsic photoelectric effect
 semiconductors
● Low binding energy 🡪 energy gap between impurity and conduction
band always lower than E G
● Cooling is necessary (thermal excitation)
○ ν cut-off : much lower than intrinsic photoelectric effect
○ Especially in the case of IR detectors
● Additional reduction of ν cut-off
○ mechanical pressure
○ composition change
Hg 1-x Cd x Te:
x=0 🡪 metallic properties
x=0.2 🡪 E G =0
x=1 🡪 E G =1.6 eV

Ge:Ga with λ cut-off ~ 240 μμ

 semiconductors
● Electrical conductivity of extrinsic material differs fundamentally
from intrinsic material
○ Intrinsic: Charge carriers are created by the absorption of a photon as
electron/hole pairs. Applied voltage 🡪 photon current ∝ photon rate
○ Extrinsic: Individual charge carriers are created, complementary charges
reside on ionized atoms bound to the crystal lattice; immobile, cannot carry
current
● High temperatures 🡪intrinsic mechanism dominates in both
types of materials
● Low temperatures 🡪 carrier contributed by the dominant impurity
is more numerous.
 semiconductors
● "Dopants" do not interfere with the intrinsic absorption process; number
of intrinsic atoms >> number of extrinsic atoms
○ Intrinsic absorption is maintained over extrinsic absorption in regions where the
intrinsic effect is efficient.
○ Necessary to use of filters

Energy gaps E G and

wavelengths λ max for
photoconductors used in
astronomy
 Basic properties of semiconductors
● Radiation absorption in semiconductors
N=h ν /w
where N: number of electron-hole pairs
w: energy to create torque
● Statistical fluctuations described by the Fano factor (~0.1 in
semiconductors)
● energy resolution

where
σ N : e-hole pairs
σ R : charge loss during transfer
σ A : power loss in the amplifier
 Basic properties of semiconductors
● Limits of extrinsic photoconductors
○ Absorption: a(λ) ∝N i ; N i : neutral concentration of impurities
○ Upper limits for N i :
■ Solubility limit for impurity atoms in the crystal: 10 18 -10 21 cm -3
■ Long before the solubility limit: the electrical properties of the crystal
undergo unwanted changes in the form of conduction modes that
cannot be controlled
Typical N i : 10 15 -10 16 for Si, slightly lower Ge
● Problem: absorption coefficients in extrinsic photoconductors ~ 3
orders of magnitude lower than for intrinsic ones
🡪necessary to use a volume large enough to have adequate QE;
typically 1mm in the direction of the photon beam.
 applications in astronomy
● Light Sensitive Resistors, Photoconduction:
○ absorption of a photon 🡪 e - lifted from valence band to
valence band to conduction band 🡪 increase in conductivity
○ Now: application of voltage 🡪 current ∝ photon rate
○ If E ph >E bond 🡪 photoelectron is emitted (photoionization,
photomultiplier)
○ Photovoltaic diodes produce lighting depending on the
voltage
 Diode (PN)
● Semiconductor crystal where in a
narrow transition zone, the doping
changes from n-type to p-type
● Without voltage the Fermi level
must be constant across the
network
● Fermi level depends on doping 🡪
distorted conduction and valence
bands
● e - (holes) tend to occupy the
lowest allowed energy levels 🡪 e -
(hole) depletion zone forms at the
junction between p- and n-type
materials
 Diode (PN)
● The diode has a higher resistance than its p-type and -n components
(with no applied voltage).
● Now external voltage 🡪 Fermi level deformation
● Depending on the polarity the voltage can:
○ Compensate for band distortions and restore conductivity
○ Cause a more resistant depletion zone
● Photons absorbed in the depletion zone 🡪 photoelectrons and holes
separated by a potential gradient across the depletion zone
● The two terminals of a diode connected by a resistor, absorbed
radiation results in current and voltage ∝ light flux
 PIN diode
● PIN: positive-intrinsic-negative
● Closely related to PN diodes
● They contain a region of
intrinsic material between the
p-type and n-type layers.
● The extent of the depletion
zone is increased
● Larger photosensitive volume
and higher frequency
response
 Schottky diode
● Junction between metal and n-type
semiconductor
● Distortion of the semiconductor bands by
differential doping or by charges trapped
between the surface layers
● Thermal excitation or quantum tunneling 🡪
electrons can cross the barrier formed by the
depletion zone 🡪 DC current can flow without
external voltage
● External voltage: depending on the polarity the
current is significantly reduced or increased
● Schottky diodes have non-linear voltage-current
relationships.
● important in radio
 CCD's
● The most important detector in astronomy
● Semiconductor detector, two-dimensional array of small semiconductor
elements
● Pixel size: d ≥ 4 μm
● CCD size: ≤ 8k x 8k pixels
● Larger CCDs are available as CCD arrays (mosaics)
● Initially conceived in 1970 at Bell Laboratories
● In astronomy since the 1980s, for a long time only in the optical spectrum,
today also in X-ray and IR astronomy
● IR: Material InSb or Ge
● They combine good energy and spatial resolution
 Structure of a CCD
● Thin monocrystalline rectangular
plate (<0.2mm) of
photoconductive material
● Si pn-type in most cases
● Covered surface of very thin
conductive electrodes (≤ 1μm)
separated from the substrate by
an insulating layer of ~ 0.1μm
layer
● Photosensitive part of the chip:
Lightly doped or practically
intrinsic (≤ 10 μm ) below the
insulating layer
 Structure of a CCD
● The “pixel” is created by long, thin “channel
stops” (highly doped p-type material)
● Movement of electrons is prevented by
charge depletion and the resulting negative
charge.
● Reading channels perpendicular to the
electronic strips
● The pixels are defined by “channel stops”
and 3 electrodes (three-phase CCD)
● The channel stops end in the reading
register, which has its own set of electrodes.
● Three-phase device: individual electrodes
are alternately connected to three voltage
lines
Diagram of the arrangement of the
electrodes in a three-phase CCD
(6x6 pix)
 Exposure of a CCD
● Creation of electron-hole pairs
● The electrodes are maintained with a positive voltage (little V)
● Electrons accumulate under the electrodes, the holes are attracted to
the substrate
● The exposed chips then show a 2-D distribution of charge that exactly
corresponds to the distribution of absorbed light.
 Reading Procedure
● The 2-D charge distribution is read
by periodic changes in electrode
voltage.
● Each complete cycle of voltage
changes moves the entire charge
distribution for a pixel along the read
channels 🡪 the content is read
sequentially
● Line of pixels adjacent to the read
register is moved to the register; read
sequentially through an on-chip
pre-amplifier to the signal line.
Charge transfer in a three-phase
CCD
CCD's
 CCDs: Problems
● Lattice defects: The most serious problem in manufacturing
○ trap electrons 🡪 incomplete charge transfer
○ Many charge transfers (each pixel ≤ 10), add up 🡪 even a small loss of charge
at each stage will have serious consequences on an image (particularly at low
exposure levels)
● Particularly critical: Surface or interface layers
● Solution: High-quality CCDs have a very thin (~0.2 μm) n-type zone
under the insulating layer.
○ The minimum of the electrostatic potential is slightly below the Si and insulating
layers.
○ Photoelectrons are accumulated in a potential minimum where the lattice is
more uniform.
○ Electrons can be safely transferred
 lighting possibilities
● Absorption through
electrodes, unavoidable light
losses
● Backlight (from the substrate
side)
○ Si absorption coefficient
increases strongly with
decreasing wavelength 🡪
Back-illuminated CCDs have low
sensitivity to blue light

Photon absorption coefficient in

silicon
 lighting possibilities
● Possible solution: “Thinning” the Si
plate to ~10 ∝μ → dramatic
change in blue light sensitivity
● UV: Even “thin” CCDs have a
strong decrease in UV RQE (very
high absorption coefficient on Si)
for UV, photons in the surface
layers are absorbed, where
photoelectrons tend to get trapped
in defects 🡪 especially in layers
with treated surfaces.
● Or: phosphor paints 🡪 UV photons Comparison of RQE
(measured) between a thick
are converted to optical photons. and “thin” back-illuminated
CCD
 Typical Parameters for CCDs
● Larger chips: 8192 x 8192 pixels
● Typical pixel sizes: 10 - 30μm
● Cooling (liquid nitrogen): negligible
dark current
● Sensitivity limited by read noise
● Very low readout noise (≤ 10 e - ) 🡪
Well-suited to detect weak signals
● Only ~10 5 load capacity

Typical design of a nitrogen cryostat

for photoconductive detectors
 Some examples
● FORS1 (ESO VLT)
○ TK2048EB4-1, backlit, AR
coated
○ 2048 x 2048 pixels
○ Pixel size: 24 x 24μm
○ Reading noise: 5 -6.2 e - rms
○ Example of cosmetic
defects:
■ Type: Dark blobs
■ Location (x,y): 268,
1652 Quantum efficiency of FORS1
■ Number of affected
pixels: 6 pixels in
diameter
 Some examples
● FORS2
○ MIT/LL CCID-20,
back-illuminated, AR-coated
○ 2048 x 4096 pixels
○ Pixel size 15 x 15μm
○ Reading noise: 2.7 - 4.2 e -
rms

Quantum efficiency of FORS2

 Some examples

FORS2 Flat
FORS1
 Some examples
● WFI (MPG 2.2m)
● 8 EEV 44.82, backlit
● 2048 x 4096 pixels
● Pixel size: 15 x 15μm
● Reading noise: 2.4 - 5.6 e - rms
● +1 CCD for tracking

Quantum efficiency of the 8 WFI

CCDs
some CCD's
 some CCD's
● HST
○ WFPC2
■ 4, front lit, thick, Yes,
800 x 800 pix. Reading
noise ~5e - rms
○ HRC
■ 2, backlit, “thinned out”
SiTe, 4096 x 2048, 15 x
15 μm pixel
○ STIS
■ 1, backlit, 1024 x 1024
pix
 X-Ray CCDs
● Problem: X-rays are absorbed very quickly in Si
● Extremely difficult to prepare very thin layers
● Backlit devices thinner (~40μm ) than the depleted region of
front-lit devices ( 60−75μm )
● Used in the ACIS-I and -S detectors of Chandra (Advanced CCD
Imaging Spectrometer). 4 and 6 CCD arrays, 1024 x 1024 pixels
● Energy resolution: 60eV at 1 KeV, 150 eV at 8 keV
● Spatial resolution: ~0.8”
● Both much better than eg ROSAT PSPC
 European Photon Imaging Camera
● XMM-Newton
● 2 MOS (Metal Oxide
Semiconductor) cameras
● Front-illuminated, one of three
electrodes “enlarged” to occupy
a larger fraction of pixel, etched
with holes 🡪 “open” fraction of
total pixel area of 40%
● Areas with holes have high
transmission of "soft" X-rays.
● 7 CCD array
 epic pn
● New design, made in MPE,
Garching
● Back-illuminated CCDs, X-rays
absorbed in diodes (pn transition)
● Sensitive at full volume
● Very good absorption throughout
the spectral range
● Array of six 400x400 pixels (6x6cm
2
) 🡪the largest X-ray CCD ever
epic pn
 IR CCDs
● Not possible with intrinsic semiconductors 🡪 extrinsic material is
necessary
● But: Conduction properties of the different layers of a CCD chip
are based on the thermal excitation of charge carriers 🡪 CCD
design cannot be applied directly on photoconductors with
extrinsic impurity bands
● In IR: hybrid CCDs; array of impurity bands are bonded to Si
CCD