The CCD systems on La Palma use a variety of chip types; the earlier
RCA-SID501 and GEC-P8603 have now been superseded by larger devices,
primarily EEV P88300 and Tektronix 1024 square chips.
Table summarises important general parameters of the
types of CCD chip
available; La Palma Technical Notes 55 and 93 describe some
of the CCDs in rather more detail.
It can be seen that there are a range of formats and performances available.
The thinned TEK (and the older GEC7 and RCA) chips have a higher efficiency at most
wavelengths, and so are better suited for most imaging applications. The
lowest readout noise chips are usually preferred for most spectroscopic
applications. The overall high efficiency, and low noise of the TEK CCDs
makes them the preferred sensor for most general use. See also section
.
for a discussion about choice of detector. It should be noted that we
hope to introduce larger, high performance CCDs in the next 2 years- refer to
RGO for latest information.