C. Kalkuhl

UV MCP Detectors for WSO-UV: Cross Strip Anode and Readout Electronics

The main instrument of the WSO-UV satellite covers the wavelength range of 102-176 nm and 174-310 nm with two high resolution echelle spectrographs. The essential requirements for the associated detectors are high quantum efficiency, solar blindness, and single photon detection. To achieve this, we are developing microchannel plate (MCP) detectors in sealed tubes. It is planned to use cesium activated gallium nitride as semitransparent photocathode, a stack of two microchannel plates in chevron configuration, and a 33 mm × 44 mm cross strip anode with 64 horizontal and 64 vertical electrodes. This type of anode requires a lower gain of the MCPs ( ≈ 106) compared to other types of anodes. Therefore, it extends the expected lifetime of the detectors to about five to ten years. The challenge for the use of a cross strip anode onboard the WSO-UV satellite is the combination of contradictory constraints on the readout electronics: On the one hand it should be able to handle a maximum count rate of 3·105 s-1 with a spatial resolution better than 15 μm . On the other hand the power consumption is limited to about 8 W. One feasible solution is the so-called Beetle chip. This chip provides 128 input channels with charge-sensitive preamplifiers and shapers. It stores the sampled data temporarily in a ring buffer and multiplexes it to four analogue readout channels. The output is then digitized by four ADCs and processed in a radiation hard FPGA, which also contains the space-wire interface to the satellite bus.

MCP detector development for WSO-UV

The spectrographs of WSO-UV cover the wavelength range of 102 - 310 nm. The essential requirements for the associated detectors are high quantum effciency, solar blindness, and single photon detection. To achieve this, we develop a microchannel plate detector in a sealed tube. We plan to use cesium activated gallium nitride as semitransparent photocathode, a stack of two microchannel plates and a cross strip anode with advanced readout electronics. Challenges are the degradation of the photocathode under atmospheric conditions and the sealing process. We present the detector concept, details of the transfer and sealing processes under UHV, and the current status.

Low-power readout electronics for micro channel plate detectors with cross-strip anodes

The World Space Observatory - Ultraviolet (WSO-UV) will be the only space telescope for the ultraviolet wavelength range between 102 and 310 nm during the next decade. It is a multinational project under Russian leadership with contributions from Ukraine and Spain. Its main instrument, the WSO-UV Spectrographs (WUVS), was designed by IAAT in collaboration with the Leibniz Institut für Analytische Wissenschaften, Berlin. We are developing the corresponding microchannel plate detectors using new combinations of materials for the photocathode as well as a 64 by 64 cross strip anode for event position determination. Charge pre-amplification is performed by the Beetle chip designed at the ASIC laboratory of the MPIK for LHCb at CERN. It has 128 pre-amplifiers on one die and provides the analog output in a four-fold serial stream. This stream is digitized by four ADCs and processed in a Microsemi RTAX FPGA. Processed data are sent to the instrument control unit via a SpaceWire interface. This concept results in one order of magnitude reduced power consumption in comparison to the use of conventional pre-amplifiers as well as a reduced volume, weight and complexity of the readout electronics. This paper presents the architecture of the electronics and details of the FPGA design as well as an estimation of the performance of our setup.

Low power readout electronics for a UV MCP detector with cross strip anode

After the shutdown of the Hubble Space Telescope in a few years, new astronomical missions for the ultraviolet (UV) wavelength range between 91 and 300 nm with improved optics and detectors will be necessary. This fact drives our development of solar blind photon counting microchannel plate (MCP) UV detectors with high quantum efficiency, high spatial resolution, and low power readout electronics. We plan to use a cross-strip anode (XSA), which has a high spatial resolution and additionally allows a low gain operation of the MCPs which leads to an increased lifetime of the MCPs compared to detectors with other anode types. The main difficulty in implementing an XSA in a detector for space applications is the need for a (pre-) amplifier, a shaper, and an ADC for each of the strips, which means large power consumption and spatial requirements. The solution we are studying is the application of the so-called Beetle chip. This allows for an implementation of a readout electronics for an XSA with a power consumption of less then 10 W. For the tests of our readout electronics prototype, and for the burn-in of the MCPs, we recently finished a setup in a vacuum chamber that is similar to the configuration in the final detector. We present a brief overview of our detector design and details of the readout electronics setup as well as details of the setup in our vacuum chamber.

FlashCam: a novel Cherenkov telescope camera with continuous signal digitization

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will be the next generation ground-based observatory for cosmic gamma rays. The FlashCam camera for its mid-size telescope introduces a new concept, with a modest sampling rate of 250 MS/s, that enables a continuous digitization as well as event buffering and trigger processing using the same front-end FPGAs. The high performance Ethernet-based readout provides a dead-time free operation for event rates up to 30 kHz corresponding to a data rate of 2.0 GByte/s sent to the camera server. We present the camera design and the current status of the project.

Characterisation of low power readout electronics for a UV microchannel plate detector with cross-strip readout

Astronomical observations in the ultraviolet (UV) wavelength range between 91 and 300nm are fundamental for the progress in astrophysics. Scientific success of future UV observatories raises the need for technology development in the areas of detectors, optical components, and their coatings. We develop solar blind and photon counting microchannel plate (MCP) UV detectors as a contribution to the progress in UV observation technology. New combinations of materials for the photocathode (see paper No. 9144-111, this volume, for details) as well as a cross-strip (XS) anode, having 64 strips on each layer, are used. Pre-amplification of the charge deposited onto the anode is performed by the Beetle chip designed at the Max-Planck-Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg for LHCb at CERN. It features 128 pre-amplifiers on one die and provides the analogue output in a four-fold serial stream. This stream is digitised by only four ADCs and is processed in an FPGA. This concept results in a reduced power consumption well below 10W as well as a reduced volume, weight and complexity of the readout electronics compared to existing cross-strip readouts. We developed an electronics prototype assembly and a setup in a vacuum chamber that is similar to the configuration in the final detector. The setup in the chamber is used for the burn-in of the MCPs as well as for tests of the readout electronics prototype assembly incorporating realistic signals. In this paper, information on the XS anodes as well as on the hybrid PCB carrying the Beetle pre-amplifier chip is shown. Details on the readout electronics design as well as details of the setup in the vacuum chamber are presented. An outlook to the next steps in the development process is given.

Towards a European Stratospheric Balloon Observatory: the ESBO design study

This paper presents the concept of a community-accessible stratospheric balloon-based observatory that is currently under preparation by a consortium of European research institutes and industry. The planned European Stratospheric Balloon Observatory (ESBO) aims at complementing the current landscape of scientific ballooning activities by providing a service-centered infrastructure tailored towards broad astronomical use. In particular, the concept focuses on reusable platforms with exchangeable instruments and telescopes performing regular flights and an operations concept that provides researchers with options to test and operate own instruments, but later on also a proposal-based access to observations. It thereby aims at providing a complement to ground-, space-based, and airborne observatories in terms of access to wavelength regimes – particularly the ultraviolet (UV) and far infrared (FIR) regimes –, spatial resolution capability, and photometric stability. Within the currently ongoing ESBO Design Study (ESBO DS), financed within the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Programme, a prototype platform carrying a 0.5-m telescope for UV and visible light observations is being built and concepts for larger following platforms, leading up to a next-generation FIR telescope are being studied. A flight of the UV/visible prototype platform is currently foreseen for 2021. We present the technical motivation, science case, instrumentation, and a two-stage image stabilization approach of the 0.5-m UV/visible platform. In addition, we briefly describe the novel mid-sized stabilized balloon gondola under design to carry telescopes in the 0.5 to 0.6 m range as well as the currently considered flight option for this platform. Secondly, we outline the scientific and technical motivation for a large balloon-based FIR telescope and the ESBO DS approach towards such an infrastructure.

An introduction to the World Space Observatory-Ultraviolet spectrographs

The World Space Observatory Ultraviolet (WSO-UV) is a multinational mission under the leadership of Russia with contributions of Spain and Germany. The mission is part of the Spektrum series and launch is currently scheduled for 2016. It consists of a 1.7m mirror focusing on spectrographs in the range of 102-310 nm withh a resolution of R ≥ 55,000 for high resolution spectral observations, a long-slit-spectrograph for spatially resolved observations and an imager. According to the Phase-B-Study all spectrographs will use the same detectors built by the IAAT. These spectrographs are designed to observe cosmic plasma with temperatures of several ten thousands Kelvin and atomic transition lines of all important atoms and molecuules like H2, CO, OH eetc. In knowledge about the formation of galaxies and analyze the atmospheres of extrasolar planets and protoplanetary discs. To achieve these goals the IAAT designed in cooperation with the Leibniz-Institute for Analytical Sciences (ISAS Berlin) the spectrographs. In addition Tubingen develops and builds a new type of michrchannel plate detector based on gallim nitride cathods and a cross-strip-anode.