Extreme faint flux imaging with an EMCCD

TL;DR

This paper introduces a specialized EMCCD camera designed for extreme faint flux imaging, achieving ultra-low noise levels and demonstrating its effectiveness through laboratory and telescope observations.

Contribution

The paper presents a new EMCCD-based camera with integrated control system, achieving sub-electron read-out noise and minimal CIC, suitable for detecting extremely faint signals.

Findings

Achieved sub-electron read-out noise levels.

Demonstrated low CIC through manufacturing and clock shaping.

Successfully used on a 1.6-m telescope for scientific observations.

Abstract

An EMCCD camera, designed from the ground up for extreme faint flux imaging, is presented. CCCP, the CCD Controller for Counting Photons, has been integrated with a CCD97 EMCCD from e2v technologies into a scientific camera at the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique Exp\'erimentale (LAE), Universit\'e de Montr\'eal. This new camera achieves sub-electron read-out noise and very low Clock Induced Charge (CIC) levels, which are mandatory for extreme faint flux imaging. Data gathered with the camera suggests that through enhanced manufacturing processes, which would avoid traps from being created, and with the help of the clock shapes producible with CCCP, the CIC generated during the vertical transfer could be virtually suppressed. The camera has been characterized in laboratory and used on the Observatoire du Mont M\'egantic 1.6-m telescope. The performance of the camera is discussed and experimental data with the first scientific data are presented.