Proton damage in the E2V swept charge device

The swept charge device has been developed using CCD technology to perform photon counting X-ray spectroscopy in the 0.5–10 keV band as an alternative to silicon PIN and drift diode detectors. The key benefits of the detector are large area, combined with reduced electrical interconnects, with X-ray performance obtained using modest cooling to around −20°C. Here we test the technology for its suitability for space use where solar protons degrade the CTI of the detector leading to a degradation in its resolution as a spectrometer. We report on the irradiation experiments conducted and discuss changes in leakage current and energy resolution in the detector.