<title>Fully depleted backside-illuminated spectroscopic active pixel sensors from the infrared to x rays (1 eV to 25 keV)</title>

Abstract

Large format arrays covering a wide bandwidth from 1 eV to 25 keV will be used in the focal plane of X-ray telescopes as well as in adaptive optics systems. As the readout speed requirements increase drastically with the collecting area, but noise figures have to be on the lowest possible level, CCD-type detectors do not seem to be able to fulfill the experiment expectations. Active pixel sensors (APS) have the capability to randomly select areas of interest and to operate at noise levels below 1 electron (rms). One prominent candidate for the use of an APS is XEUS: The X-ray Evolving Universe Spectroscopy mission. It represents a potential follow-on mission to the ESA cornerstone XMM currently in orbit. The XEUS mission was considered as part of ESA's Horizon 2000<SUP>+</SUP> within the context of the International Space Station.