APRIL 14--Custom-built CCDs, designed and manufactured by e2v Technologies (Essex, UK; imaging.e2vtechnologies.com), have captured their first images through Megacam, the wide-field camera mounted on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. The 40 e2v CCD42-90s, which are 2 x 4.5-kpixel, three-edge buttable CCDs, are claimed to represent the largest set of CCDs provided for any telescope in the world. With a 1° x 1 ° of view, the 27 x 62-mm, large-area devices allow close butting to minimize lost area and provide around 380 million pixels per image.
e2v supplied image sensors for the mosaic and also delivered smaller guide CCDs for peripheral telescope functions. Two years were spent integrating them into the instrument, and now they are fully working and performing extremely well. These sensors enabled safe and easy assembly into the mosaic, offering precision dimensions and auto-alignment features, avoiding the need for any position adjustments.
e2v is now working with the European Space Agency to develop and supply several hundred large-format CCDs for the planned "Cornerstone" GAIA space astronomy mission. Custom-designed chips, with unique package requirements and high performance will be a natural continuation of e2v's technology.
