In-flight performance of the SUMER microchannel plate detectors

Neil W. Griffiths; Sabine Airieau; Oswald H. W. Siegmund

doi:10.1117/12.330312

10 November 1998 In-flight performance of the SUMER microchannel plate detectors

Neil W. Griffiths, Sabine Airieau, Oswald H. W. Siegmund

Proceedings Volume 3445, EUV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy IX; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.330312
Event: SPIE's International Symposium on Optical Science, Engineering, and Instrumentation, 1998, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

The SUMER spectrograph on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory utilizes two cross delay-line (XDL) microchannel plate (MCP) photon counting detectors. Detailed housekeeping telemetry from SUMER allow us to track many characteristics of its in-orbit detector behavior. Since there is a finite quantity of charge that can be extracted form an MCP detector, we observe some variation in the response of such a detector over the course of its lifetime. Information from the housekeeping data reveals the expected variation in gain for both spectral and spatial dimensions. We also present SUMER history memory files which illustrate the pattern of count extraction arising from repeated observations of emission line spectra. In addition, we compare pre-flight and in-flight flat fields for both SUMER detectors. The in- flight flat fields include features corresponding to regions of high charge extraction. Evidence for displacement of low gain events is also presented, and the importance of performing a pre-launch MCP 'scrub' is emphasized.

Citation Download Citation

Neil W. Griffiths, Sabine Airieau, and Oswald H. W. Siegmund "In-flight performance of the SUMER microchannel plate detectors", Proc. SPIE 3445, EUV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy IX, (10 November 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.330312

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available