Photometric and spectroscopic performance of a thinned RCA CCD detector

The performance of a 320 x 512-element thinned RCA CCD detector, incorporated into a direct-imaging camera at the McDonald Observatory, as well as into a grating spectrometer system, was evaluated. The system design incorporates a cryogenic dewar, a TTL timing sequencer, careful attention to system noise and stability, and minicomputer control. Measurements of detector performance were taken with both optical systems using the same thinned chip, model number SID 53612, delivered in the fall of 1980. The thinned chip performance was characterized by the system gain and noise, linearity, dark current, and the accuracy of the flat-field correction. Two superimposed spectra of the same star taken 1 hr apart with the thinned chip demonstrated excellent stability of the device, whereas a plot of the wavelength residuals, obtained from a third-order fit to the lines produced by a He-Ne arc lamp showed the same accuracy as that obtained from the Reticon and Digicon detectors at the McDonald Observatory.