DEVELOPMENT OF AN ASTRONOMICAL INFRARED PtSi CAMERA

천문관측용 PtSi 전하결합소자 적외선 카메라의 개발

We have built a near-infrared imaging camera with a PtSi array detector manufactured by the Mitsubishi Company. The PtSi detector is sensitive in the wavelength range 1 to $5{\mu}m$. Quantum efficiency of PtSi is much lower than that of InSb and HgCdTe types. However, the PtSi array has advantages over the latter ones: (i)The read-out noise is very low; (ii)the characteristics of the array elements arc uniform and stable; (iii)it is not difficult to make a large PtSi array; and (iv) consequently the price is affordably low. The array used consists of $512{\times}512$ pixels and its size is $10.2\;mm{\times}13.3\;mm$. The filter wheel of the camera is equipped with J, H, K filters, and an aluminum plate for measuring the dark noise. The dewar is cooled with liquid nitrogen. We have adopted a method of installing the clock pattern and the observing softwares in the RAM, which Gill he easily used for other systems. We have developed a software with a pull-down menu for operating the camera and data acquisition. The camera has been tested by observing $\delta$ Orionis.