A 36 CM(2) LARGE MONOLITHIC PN-CHARGE COUPLED DEVICE X-RAY-DETECTOR FOR THE EUROPEAN XMM SATELLITE MISSION

Monolythic arrays of 12 pn-charge coupled devices 3 X 1 cm(2) each, ha ve been developed and produced for the focal plane instrumentation of the high throughput European Photon Imaging Camera on XMM and the Germ an ABRIXAS x-ray satellite mission. The design parameters have been op timized to match the properties of the x-ray imaging optics as well as the x-ray intensity, energy bandwidth, and characteristic time consta nts of objects to be observed. The pixel size is 150 X 150 mu m(2); re ad-out is performed in parallel with 64 channels in each subunit, resu lting in a total of 768 channels; low noise, spectroscopic performance is realized by on-chip integrated JFET electronics; high ohmic, ultra pure bulk material allows full depletion and enhances the efficiency f or higher energy x-ray detection. The fabrication process, the layout topology, and the operating conditions guarantee ten years operation i n space without performance degradation. (C) 1997 American Institute o f Physics. [S0034-6748(97)03210-3].