Characterization of the CSST Survey Camera CCDs: I. basic electro-optical performance
Abstract
The Chinese Space-station Survey Telescope (CSST) is a flagship mission designed to carry out a large-area high-resolution multiband imaging and slitless spectroscopic survey over a decade. The survey's science drivers, ranging from precision cosmology to stellar astrophysics, impose stringent requirements on the performance of its focal plane detectors. This paper is the first in a series that present ground-based characterization of the 31 flight-model charge-coupled devices (CCDs) of the CSST Survey Camera. Measurements of basic electro-optical performance are reported here. Key results include: full-well capacity ≥ 80 ke− (limited by the test electronics), non-linearity <1.4% in the range of 7−70 ke−, median readout noise 3.6 e−, dark current ≤ 0.02 e−pix−1s−1 at the operating temperature of −85 ∘C, high quantum efficiency across the survey's spectral range (255-1000 nm), typical pixel response non-uniformity <1%, and charge transfer efficiency >99.9994% at the flat-field level of 10 ke−. All 31 CCDs meet or exceed the Survey Camera's specifications. These measurements establish a performance baseline and provide inputs for CSST image simulation and data processing pipelines
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BibTeX
@misc{luo2026characterization,
title = {{Characterization of the CSST Survey Camera CCDs: I. basic electro-optical performance}},
author = {Zun Luo and Hu Zhan and Youhua Xu and Qiuyan Luo and Yuhe Song and Fajun Li and Li Shao and Zhe Huang and Haonan Chi and Huaipu Mu and Xiaolei Meng},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.19105},
eprint = {2609.19105},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.19105},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Characterization of the CSST Survey Camera CCDs: I. basic electro-optical performance
AU - Zun Luo
AU - Hu Zhan
AU - Youhua Xu
AU - Qiuyan Luo
AU - Yuhe Song
AU - Fajun Li
AU - Li Shao
AU - Zhe Huang
AU - Haonan Chi
AU - Huaipu Mu
AU - Xiaolei Meng
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/29
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.19105
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.19105
AB - The Chinese Space-station Survey Telescope (CSST) is a flagship mission designed to carry out a large-area high-resolution multiband imaging and slitless spectroscopic survey over a decade. The survey's science drivers, ranging from precision cosmology to stellar astrophysics, impose stringent requirements on the performance of its focal plane detectors. This paper is the first in a series that present ground-based characterization of the 31 flight-model charge-coupled devices (CCDs) of the CSST Survey Camera. Measurements of basic electro-optical performance are reported here. Key results include: full-well capacity ≥ 80 ke^− (limited by the test electronics), non-linearity <1.4% in the range of 7−70 ke^−, median readout noise 3.6 e^−, dark current ≤ 0.02 e^−pix^−1s^−1 at the operating temperature of −85 ^∘C, high quantum efficiency across the survey's spectral range (255-1000 nm), typical pixel response non-uniformity <1%, and charge transfer efficiency >99.9994% at the flat-field level of 10 ke^−. All 31 CCDs meet or exceed the Survey Camera's specifications. These measurements establish a performance baseline and provide inputs for CSST image simulation and data processing pipelines
ER -