First results from a multiplexed and massive instrument with sub-electron noise Skipper-CCDs

TL;DR

This paper introduces a large-scale instrument with 256 Skipper-CCDs capable of single-electron detection, demonstrating the feasibility of scaling up to thousands of channels for advanced particle detection.

Contribution

The paper presents the design, construction, and initial results of the largest instrument with sub-electron noise Skipper-CCDs, enabling scalable, high-sensitivity detection for the OSCURA experiment.

Findings

Successful operation of 10 MCMs with 160 Skipper-CCDs

Largest instrument with single-electron sensitivity CCDs to date

Demonstrated scalability of multiplexed readout scheme

Abstract

We present a new instrument composed of a large number of sub-electron noise Skipper-CCDs operated with a two stage analog multiplexed readout scheme suitable for scaling to thousands of channels. New, thick, $1.35$ Mpix sensors, from a new foundry, are glued into a Multi-Chip Module (MCM) printed circuit board on a ceramic substrate which has 16 sensors each. The instrument, that can hold up-to 16 MCMs, a total of 256 Skipper-CCD sensors (called a Super-Module with $\approx 130$ grams of active mass and $346$ Mpix), is part of the R$\&$D effort of the OSCURA experiment which will have $\approx 94$ super-modules. Experimental results with $10$ MCMs and $160$ Skipper-CCDs sensors are presented in this paper. This is already the largest ever build instrument with single electron sensitivity CCDs using nondestructive readout, both, in terms of active mass and number of channels.