AST 9530075 Abstract Thinned CCDs for the UH 8192 x 8192 mosaic camera The University of Hawaii has built a CCD mosaic camera with 8192x8192 pixels. The mosaic is a close-packed 4x2 array of 3-edge-buttable 2048x2048 CCDs with 15 micrometer pixels. The camera was designed primarily for use at the prime focus of the Canada France Hawaii Telescope, but can be used with other telescopes as well. The CCDs which were available for use in this instrument are prototypes of rather low quality with several serious limitations. This project will replace the original CCDs in the existing camera with high-quality, high sensitivity (peak QE > 80%), thinned CCDs. Improved CCDs will increase the sensitivity of the instrument by at least a factor of two in the red and by a factor of many in the blue. Furthermore, the new CCDs will be of superior cosmetic quality, and the reduced dark current and resulting low noise will make low background imaging projects possible.
