Tests of the demodulating CCDs for the SPHERE / ZIMPOL imaging polarimeter

Hans-Martin Schmid; Mark Downing; Ronald Roelfsema; Andreas Bazzon; Daniel Gisler; Johan Pragt; Claudio Cumani; Bernardo Salasnich; Alexey Pavlov; Andrea Baruffolo; Jean-Luc Beuzit; Anne Costille; Sebastian Deiries; Kjetil Dohlen; Carsten Dominik; Eddy Elswijk; Markus Feldt; Markus Kasper; David Mouillet; Christian Thalmann; François Wildi

doi:10.1117/12.925886

24 September 2012 Tests of the demodulating CCDs for the SPHERE / ZIMPOL imaging polarimeter

Hans-Martin Schmid, Mark Downing, Ronald Roelfsema, Andreas Bazzon, Daniel Gisler, Johan Pragt, Claudio Cumani, Bernardo Salasnich, Alexey Pavlov, Andrea Baruffolo, Jean-Luc Beuzit, Anne Costille, Sebastian Deiries, Kjetil Dohlen, Carsten Dominik, Eddy Elswijk, Markus Feldt, Markus Kasper, David Mouillet, Christian Thalmann, François Wildi

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8446, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy IV; 84468Y (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.925886
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2012, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Abstract

The imaging polarimeter ZIMPOL is one of three focal plane instruments of the SPHERE / VLT planet finder. ZIMPOL measures the linear polarization based on a fast modulation – demodulation principle using a charge-shifting technique on a masked CCD for separating the photons with opposite polarization direction. This paper describes the on-chip demodulation and the different detector read-out modes which are implemented for the ZIMPOL polarimeter. Test results are presented which allow an evaluation of the performance of the ZIMPOL CCD detectors. The achievable polarization efficiency is close to expectation and the charge trap correction with the two-phase demodulation mode works well. Other detector effects like bias level variations and read-out patterns can be corrected in the data reduction process. The tests demonstrate that the demodulating CCDs fulfill the requirements for the SPHERE project.

Citation Download Citation

Hans-Martin Schmid, Mark Downing, Ronald Roelfsema, Andreas Bazzon, Daniel Gisler, Johan Pragt, Claudio Cumani, Bernardo Salasnich, Alexey Pavlov, Andrea Baruffolo, Jean-Luc Beuzit, Anne Costille, Sebastian Deiries, Kjetil Dohlen, Carsten Dominik, Eddy Elswijk, Markus Feldt, Markus Kasper, David Mouillet, Christian Thalmann, and François Wildi "Tests of the demodulating CCDs for the SPHERE / ZIMPOL imaging polarimeter", Proc. SPIE 8446, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy IV, 84468Y (24 September 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.925886

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