Detector system challenges of the wide‑field spectroscopic survey telescope (WST)

The wide‑field spectroscopic survey telescope (WST) is proposed to become the next large optical/near infrared facility for the European southern observatory (ESO) once the extremely large telescope (ELT) has become operational. While the latter is optimized for unprecedented sensitivity and adaptive‑optics assisted image quality over a small field of view, WST addresses the need for large survey volumes in spectroscopy with the light‑collecting power of a 10‑m class telescope. Its unique layout will feature the combination of multi‑object and integral field spectroscopy simultaneously. For the intended capacity of this layout, a very large number of detectors are needed. The complexity of the detector systems presents a number of challenges that are discussed with a focus on novel approaches and innovative detector designs that can be expected to emerge over the anticipated 20‑year timeline of this project.