Quantum-Limited Imaging Detectors: Presentation Template

1. Don Figer, Rochester Institute of Technology Quantum-Limited Imaging Detectors Symposium Rochester Institute of Technology March 2, 2009 Quantum-Limited Imaging Detectors: Presentation Template

2. Instructions • This template contains suggestions for the formatting and logical flow of presentations at the workshop. • Feel free to disregard any/all formatting.

3. Outline • Application area problems • Application area imaging detectors • The benefits of quantum-limited imaging detectors

4. Application Area Problems • These “problem” sections will • define each problem • give scientific context for the problem • describe the current state of the field in addressing the problem • highlight the limiting bottlenecks in completely solving the problem • Each application area should have ~3-5 problems and cover ~10 slides • See the next slide for an example of a “problem” in the “Astrophysics” application area (described on only one slide)

5. Astrophysics: Dark Energy • “Dark energy” is the source of the force that is accelerating the expansion of the Universe. It is perceived to exist through its influence on stars and galaxies. The problem is that we have no idea what produces dark energy. • For years, it was assumed that the Universe was expanding at a constant rate (the “Hubble constant”), but…. • Current studies show that….. • The primary bottleneck in determining the source of dark energy is the errors in observations that do not allow one to distinguish between competing models.

6. Application Area Imaging Detectors • These slides will: • cite many examples of how current detectors are used • describe the state of the art in detector technology for the application area • give context for what critical detector characteristics “matter” for the application area • These slides can be interleaved with the “problem” slides if the individual problems are typically addressed by highly custom detectors. • See the next slide for a short example of one such slide regarding a specific implementation of detectors that could be used to address the dark energy problem.

7. Application Area Imaging Detectors • These slides will: • cite many examples of how current detectors are used • describe the state of the art in detector technology for the application area • give context for what critical detector characteristics “matter” for the application area • These slides can be interleaved with the “problem” slides if the individual problems are typically addressed by highly custom detectors. • See the next slide for a short example of one such slide regarding a specific implementation of detectors that could be used to address the Astrophysics dark energy problem.

8. Astrophysics Detectors for Dark Energy Studies • One example of the use of detectors in Astrophysics can be seen in the NASA/DOE Joint Dark Energy Mission. A specific proposal for such a mission is SNAP. • The SNAP focal plane schematic is shown below. • Wavelength discrimination is provided by fixed filters. • The optical detectors are thick, deeply depleted silicon CCDs. • The p-channel technology provides high radiation immunity.

9. Benefits of Quantum-Limited Imaging Detectors • The section will: • show how the application area problems can be addressed with detectors that have ~ideal characteristics in the properties that matter most • give “far out” ideas of what could be enabled by dramatically enhanced detector properties, e.g. in-pixel spectral resolution • The following slide gives an example for the dark energy problem in Astrophysics

10. Astrophysics Benefits of Quantum-Limited Imaging Detectors • Read noise and quantum efficiency are important for a dark energy mission. • The flux measurement errors can be reduced by ~50% with a zero read noise detector that has 100% QE. • This reduction in error allows either: X% less mission cost, a larger survey, etc. • With in-pixel spectral resolution, one could do the whole SNAP mission in 1/9th of the current baseline.