A new deep-depletion CCD for the red channel of the Palomar Double Spectrograph

Abstract

The red channel of the Palomar Double Spectrograph (DBSP) on the 200-inch Hale Telescope has been upgraded with a new deep-depletion CCD from LBNL. Its redder response produced a significant increase of the throughput above 550 nm, and its longer dimension more than doubled the spectral coverage. A special Dewar was designed to accommodate a detector mount which includes features to minimize CCD motion due to thermal cycling, in spite of the very simple "picture frame" packaging of the CCD. The new Dewar also includes some novel features to improve the liquid nitrogen hold time while staying within the size envelope allowed in the Cassegrain cage. We describe these changes along with the detector characterization.

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