PN-CCD camera for XMM: performance of full frame and window operating modes

The pn-charge coupled device (pn-CCD) camera was developed as one of the focal plane instruments for the European photon imaging camera (EPIC) on board the x-ray multi mirror (XMM) mission. The homogeneously sensitive detector consists of four quadrants of three pn-CCDs each, which are integrated on a single silicon wafer. Each CCD has an area of 10 mm by 30 mm divided into 64 by 200 pixels with a depletion depth of 280 micrometers. Altogether the sensitive area is 60 mm by 60 mm. In the standard imaging mode (full frame mode) the CCDs are read out sequentially every 70 ms. In addition, different window modes allow imaging of brighter sources by restricting the detector area and reducing the integration time down to 6 ms. We have tested one quadrant of the EPIC pn-CCD camera at line energies from 0.52 keV to 17.4 keV at the long beam test facility PANTER in focus of the qualification mirror module for XMM as well as in a homogeneous x-ray beam. In this paper we describe the tests in the different imaging modes and report on the performance.© (1997) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.