ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Astron. Space Sci.
Sec. Astronomical Instrumentation
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fspas.2025.1617581
Design and Performance Characterization of H-band MCT Camera: Insights from Pixel-Level Gain Measurements
Provisionally accepted
- University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
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Infrared astronomical equipment is pivotal in advancing our understanding of the universe, particularly through ground-based observations, which remain the primary mode of astronomical study. The development and performance characterization of an H-band Mercury Cadmium Telluride (MCT) infrared camera designed for astronomical observations is introduced in this paper. In our research, we computed the photon transfer curve (PTC) for each pixel and fitted these curves to derive pixel-level gain. Furthermore, we reveal the spatial non-uniformity of detector pixel level gain, and by using field of view (FOV) compensation, more uniform gain can be achieved. The results suggest that the observed irregularities are correlated with changes in FOV. By adopting this testing approach, the performance evaluation of scientific-grade astronomical cameras becomes more accurate, thereby offering a robust foundation for subsequent astronomical image analysis and ultimately yielding benefits for the field of infrared astronomy.
Keywords: MCT Detector, Near-infrared H-band, Performance characterization, Pixel-Level Gain, Field of View (FOV) Compensation
Received: 24 Apr 2025; Accepted: 25 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Qu, Wei, Ma, Ning, Li, Ge, Geng, Zhang, Zhang and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jian Wang, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
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