Study on calibration method of EMCCD readout noise at high gain

Ruobing Li; Hui Zhao; Yue Pan; Mingyang Yang; Baopeng Li; Xuewu Fan

doi:10.1117/12.3036351

27 November 2024 Study on calibration method of EMCCD readout noise at high gain

Ruobing Li, Hui Zhao, Yue Pan, Mingyang Yang, Baopeng Li, Xuewu Fan

Proceedings Volume 13237, Optical Design and Testing XIV; 132371J (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3036351
Event: SPIE/COS Photonics Asia, 2024, Nantong, Jiangsu, China

Conference Poster

Abstract

The camera is an important part of the optical telescope observing system, and the performance of the camera is an important factor affecting the quality and efficiency of astronomical observations. EMCCD can achieve lower noise and higher detection sensitivity by charge multiplication techniques, and can be used to realize direct observations of very faint and weak targets, and relative to the traditional CCD/CMOS detectors, the noise level can be reduced by an order of magnitude to reach the Sub-electron level. However, facing the need for calibration of ultra-low noise at the sub-electron level, it is difficult to satisfy the currently available equipment and methods. Therefore, the study of EMCCD readout noise calibration method under high gain is of great significance for the theoretical study of EMCCD and the design of low-noise electronics. In this paper, we propose a calibration system of "cascaded integrating sphere + parallel light pipe" local illumination in dark room environment, through which we can obtain the light source under ultra-low brightness, which solves the problem of difficult to obtain the point light source, and the method of local illumination can avoid the fatigue attenuation problem under the high-fold gain, and we also refine the noise model, and propose a "gain-noise" model, which can be used to calibrate the EMCCD readout noise. The noise model is refined and the "gain-noise" fitting method is proposed, and finally the readout noise test at high gain achieves a noise calibration result of about 0.8e@600x.

(2024) Published by SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Citation Download Citation

Ruobing Li, Hui Zhao, Yue Pan, Mingyang Yang, Baopeng Li, and Xuewu Fan "Study on calibration method of EMCCD readout noise at high gain", Proc. SPIE 13237, Optical Design and Testing XIV, 132371J (27 November 2024); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3036351

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