Spectroscopic observations in the far and extreme ultraviolet (FUV/EUV, 40-200nm) is of great interest in various scientific fields, such as in Solar Physics, in physics of interstellar medium and in planetary exospheres studies. Microchannel plates-based detectors have been for a long time the detectors of choice for astronomical applications in this range of wavelength, due to their photon counting capability (since the expected photon flux are low) and the possibility of solar blindness (photon flux in the visible range are order of magnitudes higher and filtering may be an issue).

However, the spectral features observed in the targets are characterized by a high range of intensities, which can cover several orders of magnitude. Response of MCP detectors at high flux is limited ultimately by the MCP itself, but generally the readout system introduces further restrictions, thus the technique of lowering the efficiency in the area interested by the most intense lines is often adopted.

In the framework of technological R&D for future astronomical FUV/EUV spectrograph, we are developing a photon counting, solar blind, UV detector with readout system based on a 2D anode array integrated in a custom designed Read Out Integrated Circuit (MIRA - Microchannel plate Readout ASIC), with the aim of achieving high performances characteristics, in particular unprecedented performance in terms of dynamic range combined with spatial resolution close to 30 μm. This detector will allow to measure, simultaneously and without the necessity of filters, spectral lines with different intensities of orders of magnitude, exploiting the maximum Signal to Noise Ratio provided by the statistical limit.

Imaging polarimetry is an essential diagnostic tool in astronomy and solar physics. Standard instruments, other than being generally expensive, complex and/or with moving parts (all of which are problematic features for space applications), provide measurements of the components of the polarized light sampled at different points of time and/or space (depending on the scheme adopted), thus introducing artefacts difficult to eliminate, especially when the subjects are moving or the illumination is variable.

Development of compact on-chip polarization sensitive detectors is therefore of great interest and, recently, polarimetric image sensors based on a pattern of wire-grid polarizers directly deposited on chip have been introduced in the market. In order to obtain compact imaging detectors able to simultaneously detect the polarization state of the light at each pixel, to minimize and control the systematic errors of the polarimetric measures, we investigated a different approach based on the use of organic conjugated systems possessing both high extinction coefficients and emi ssion efficiencies in selected bands, combined with intrinsic anisotropy originating from the 1D molecular structure, which makes them intrinsically sensitive to the polarization of the incoming light.