The European Photon Imaging Camera on XMM-Newton: The pn-CCD camera

The European Photon Imaging Camera (EPIC)consortium has provided the focal plane instruments for the three X-ray mirror systems on XMM-Newton. Two cam eras with a reflecting grating spectrometer in the optical path are equippe d with MOS type CCDs as focal plane detectors (Turner 2001), the telescope with the full photon flux operates the novel pn-CCD as an imaging X-ray spe ctrometer. The pn-CCD camera system was developed under the leadership of t he Max-Planck-Institut fur extraterrestrische Physik (MPE), Garching, The c oncept of the pn-CCD is described as well as the different operational mode s of the camera system. The electrical, mechanical and thermal design of th e focal plane and camera is briefly treated. The in-orbit performance is de scribed in terms of energy resolution, quantum efficiency, time resolution, long term stability and charged particle background. Special emphasis is g iven to the radiation hardening of the devices and the measured and expecte d degradation due to radiation damage of ionizing particles in the first 9 months of in orbit operation.