Title :
Charge transfer efficiency in a buried-channel charge-coupled device at very low signal levels
Author :
Jack, Michael D. ; Dyck, Rudolph H.
Abstract :
A measurement of charge transfer efficiency (CTE) is described for a 256-element charge-coupled linear imaging device operated below room temperature and at a very low total charge level per charge packet, that is, at a level of approximately 1/20000th of saturation. This measurement was carried out at a register frequency near 15.75 kHz, the standard television-line frequency. CTE was measured by noting the dependence of the size of the principal charge packet upon the number of transfers. It was observed that at a dark current level of 4 electrons per packet and a photosignal level of 15 electrons the signal loss through approximately 250 transfers was 1/spl plusmn/5 electrons at the 50 percent confidence level. A signal-averaging technique was used to obtain this small probable error in the measurement.
Keywords :
Charge-coupled devices; Image sensors; Photodetectors; charge-coupled devices; image sensors; photodetectors; Charge measurement; Charge transfer; Current measurement; Dark current; Electrons; Frequency measurement; Measurement standards; Size measurement; TV; Temperature;
Journal_Title :
Solid-State Circuits, IEEE Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/JSSC.1976.1050692