Design and fabrication technology of thinned backside-excited CCD imagers and the family of the intensified electron-bombarded CCD image tubes

This paper sums up the results of more than 10 years of experience in design and manufacturing of thinned back-side illuminated CCDs of different types. Based upon the EB- CCDs created, the family of intensified electron-bombardment CCD image tubes has been designed, fabricated, and tested. This family includes: the single-stage Gen I EB-CCD devices with the 532 * 580 and 780 * 580 pixels CCDs; the 'hybrid' (the EB-CCD tube plus Gen I image intensifier) devices; and the EB-CCD tubes with the 40 mm photocathode and image demagnification factor 3 to 1. The results of the tests of these devices are presented and discussed. Besides this, the near future projects concerning EB-CCD tubes with the 80 mm photocathode and with image demagnification factor 5 to 1, and EB-CCD tubes with solar blind photocathods for the UV and EUV applications are briefly described.