Abstract
A new test bench for detector and camera characterization in the visible and near-infrared spectral range between 350 -2500 nm has been setup at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS). The detector under study is illuminated by an integrating sphere that is fed by a Czerny-Turner monochromator with quasi-monochromatic light. A quartz tungsten halogen lamp is used as a light source for the monochromator. Si- and InGaAs-based photodiodes have been calibrated against secondary reference standards at PTB (Germany), NPL (UK) and NRC (Canada) for precise spectral flux measurements. The test bench allows measurements of fundamental detector properties such as linearity of response, conversion gain, full well capacity, quantum efficiency (QE), fixed pattern noise and pixel response non-uniformity. The article will focus on the commissioning of the test bench and subsequent performance evaluation and characterization of a commercial camera system with a 640 x 480 InGaAs-detector, sensitive between 900 to 1650 nm. The study aimed at the potential use of InGaAs cameras in ground-based and airborne astronomical observations or as target acquisition and tracking cameras in the NIR supporting infrared observations at longer wavelengths, e.g. on SOFIA. An intended future application of the test bench in combination with an appropriate test dewar is the characterization of focal plane assemblies for imaging spectrometers on spacecraft missions, such as the VIS-SWIR channel of MAJIS, the Moons and Jupiter Imaging Spectrometer aboard JUICE (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer).
