36-cm2 large monolythic pn-CCD detector for EPIC on XMM

ABSTRACT Monolithic arrays of 12 CCDs, 3 x 1 cm2 each, have been developed and produced for the focal plane instrumentation of the European Photon Imaging Camera (EPIC) on XMM and the German ABRIXAS X-ray satellite mission. Thedesign parameters have been optimized to match the properties of the X-ray imaging optics as well as the X-rayintensity, energy bandwidth and characteristic time constants of the objects to observe. The pixel size is 150 x 150 1um2 ; readoutis performed in parallel; low noise, spectroscopic performance is realized by on-chip integrated JFET electronics; highohmic, ultrapure bulk material allows full depletion and enhances the efficiency for higher energy X-ray detection. The fabrication process, the layout topology and the operating conditions guarantee for a ten year operation in space without performance degradation.Keywords: XMM, EPIC, ABRIXAS, X-ray astronomy, silicon detector, CCD, pn-CCD, fully depleted 1. INTRODUCTION In 1999 two satellites equipped with pn-CCDs as an imaging X-ray sensor will be launched. One will be the XMM