Facility for the radiometric characterization of space-based visible-near infrared detectors
Abstract
When developing new astronomical instruments, there is a need to perform the characterization of their individual components, especially the detectors, to ensure that their performances comply with the scientific objectives of the instrument. A visible-near infrared (VIS-NIR) facility was developed for the absolute and relative radiometric characterization of space-based detectors at the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB). The facility operates from 0.4 to 2.65 μm in an ISO-5 environment. It offers a tunable monochromatic flux with a high level of straylight rejection (10 − 8) and 2% uniformity, over a four-decade range of intensity with adjustable bandwidth. Latency measurements are also possible. Thermalization is offered within a precision of 7 mK between 50 K and 382 K. The ultimate vacuum level of the detector chamber is below 10 − 6 mbar. A robust security system avoids both reaching temperatures outside the operational range of the detector and its electronics, and contamination due to vacuum loss. The facility was already used to characterize the VIS-NIR detectors of the Moons And Jupiter Imaging Spectrometer (MAJIS), one of the instruments on board the Jupiter ICy Moons Explorer (JUICE). The versatility provided by the VIS-NIR facility allows its use for the characterization of other astronomical detectors.
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BibTeX
@article{cisnerosgonzalez2026facility,
title = {{Facility for the radiometric characterization of space-based visible-near infrared detectors}},
author = {Miriam E. Cisneros-González and David Bolsée and Nuno Pereira and Lionel van Laeken and Lars Jacobs and Ann Carine Vandaele and Özgür Karatekin and Clément Lauzin and Séverine Robert},
journal = {Journal of Astronomical Telescopes Instruments and Systems},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1117/1.jatis.9.3.036001},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05787952v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Facility for the radiometric characterization of space-based visible-near infrared detectors
AU - Miriam E. Cisneros-González
AU - David Bolsée
AU - Nuno Pereira
AU - Lionel van Laeken
AU - Lars Jacobs
AU - Ann Carine Vandaele
AU - Özgür Karatekin
AU - Clément Lauzin
AU - Séverine Robert
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
JO - Journal of Astronomical Telescopes Instruments and Systems
DO - 10.1117/1.jatis.9.3.036001
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05787952v1
AB - When developing new astronomical instruments, there is a need to perform the characterization of their individual components, especially the detectors, to ensure that their performances comply with the scientific objectives of the instrument. A visible-near infrared (VIS-NIR) facility was developed for the absolute and relative radiometric characterization of space-based detectors at the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB). The facility operates from 0.4 to 2.65 μm in an ISO-5 environment. It offers a tunable monochromatic flux with a high level of straylight rejection (10 − 8) and 2% uniformity, over a four-decade range of intensity with adjustable bandwidth. Latency measurements are also possible. Thermalization is offered within a precision of 7 mK between 50 K and 382 K. The ultimate vacuum level of the detector chamber is below 10 − 6 mbar. A robust security system avoids both reaching temperatures outside the operational range of the detector and its electronics, and contamination due to vacuum loss. The facility was already used to characterize the VIS-NIR detectors of the Moons And Jupiter Imaging Spectrometer (MAJIS), one of the instruments on board the Jupiter ICy Moons Explorer (JUICE). The versatility provided by the VIS-NIR facility allows its use for the characterization of other astronomical detectors.
SN - 2329-4124
SN - 2329-4221
ER -