In this paper we describe the development of fast low noise detectors intended primarily for use in Shack Hartmann wavefront sensors for natural and laser guide star wavefront sensing in the future adaptive optics systems of the Thirty Meter Telescope Project and the Next Generation Adaptive Optics system at the W. M. Keck Observatory. This work results from collaboration among the W. M. Keck Observatory, the Thirty Meter Telescope Project, the Lincoln Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Starfire Optical Range of the Air Force Research Laboratory. Testing of backside thinned, packaged detectors has been completed and performance results including read noise, readout speed, charge diffusion, dark current, and quantum efficiency will be reported. Proposed developments of readout systems to compliment this detector will be described, and performance compared to alternative detector solutions.

Date Published: 22 August 2014
PDF: 15 pages
Proc. SPIE 9148, Adaptive Optics Systems IV, 914816 (22 August 2014); doi: 10.1117/12.2057057

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9148:
Adaptive Optics Systems IV
Enrico Marchetti; Laird M. Close; Jean-Pierre Véran, Editor(s)