Design of low noise, high performance X-ray charge-coupled-device cameras

This paper describes some of the critical details of the MIT X-ray CCD camera design. Special attention is given to those portions of the system that deviate from conventional practice in the design of CCD cameras. Furthermore, an attempt has been made to generalize the design so that both optical and X-ray requirements can be satisfied whenever possible. Currently, noise levels of less than 8 electrons rms are routinely achieved with this design, and even lower levels (less than 5 electrons) should be realizable.