A smartphone-based arbitrary scene projector for detector testing and instrument performance evaluation

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel smartphone-based scene projector using high-resolution OLED screens for testing sensors and evaluating instrument performance, particularly in high-precision astronomy applications like radiation-induced CTI measurement.

Contribution

It introduces a new experimental setup leveraging smartphone OLED screens for high-precision sensor testing and instrument evaluation, inspired by concepts from JPL and ESA.

Findings

Achieves high optical performance suitable for sensor calibration

Enables testing of radiation-induced CTI in space instruments

Demonstrates potential for high-precision astronomical instrument verification

Abstract

Using the high-resolution OLED screen of a smartphone to project arbitrary scenes and patterns can open a complete new dimension for testing sensors in the visible. Based on an original concept from JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), this contribution describes a new experimental setup designed to achieve the demanding performance of its first application by ESA (European Space Agency): the evaluation of radiation-induced CTI (Charge Transfer Inefficiency) on Euclid's weak lensing measurement. We show that pushed to its limits especially in terms of calibration such a simple experiment can deliver a level of optical performance high enough to be applied in the verification of high-precision astronomy instrument performance.