A near ultraviolet solar-blind telescope design using silicon CCD detectors

John W. MacKenty

doi:10.1117/12.2233217

18 July 2016 A near ultraviolet solar-blind telescope design using silicon CCD detectors

John W. MacKenty

Proceedings Volume 9905, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray; 990533 (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2233217
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2016, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Abstract

We propose a novel approach to constructing a solar-blind near ultraviolet telescope using specialized mirror coatings. Each mirror in a three or four element optical system would have a coating reflective in the 200-300nm bandpass and transmissive at wavelengths longer than 300nm. This telescope can thus use CCD detectors providing high quantum efficiency, low noise, and a large pixel count. We have procured, from Materion Corporation, sample coatings with greater than 90% reflectance in the 200-300nm bandpass and less than 10% at wavelengths longer than 300nm. With three surfaces, these coatings provide <75% in band transmission for a telescope with better than 10,000 rejection at visible wavelengths. The use of ultraviolet optimized CCD detectors, combined with a three or four element telescope, would enable an Explorer class mission with near ultraviolet survey efficiency more than 100 times that of the recent GALEX mission. We will present measured reflectance and transmission curves from 200 - 1100nm for multiple samples. We will also show simulations of the expected performance of both 3 and 4 mirror systems for a conceptual space mission.

Citation Download Citation

John W. MacKenty "A near ultraviolet solar-blind telescope design using silicon CCD detectors", Proc. SPIE 9905, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 990533 (18 July 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2233217

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