SPIE PROGRAMMES

Low Noise CCD Electronics

Instructor: Thomas Ebben is a senior design engineer at Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp., where he has performed design, analysis, and simulation on a variety of CCD electronic subsystems, including the CCD drive and video processing electronics for the Hubble Space Telescope second generation Imaging Spectrometer and Advanced Camera.

Charge-coupled devices (CCDs) are the main imaging element in a variety of scientific and commercial applications, including astronomical instruments such as the Hubble Space Telescope, spectrometers, machine vision, medical instruments, and broadcast cameras. The interaction between the CCD and electronics is critical to achieve a quality image characterized by low-noise and low-smear, and meet frame-rate and linearity specifications. The intent of this course is to present practical circuit applications and components, accompanied by appropriate theory, so the attendee has the tools to begin the electrical design of a working CCD imaging system. The course emphasizes standard design practice: understand the problem, propose a design, analyze the design using a appropriate math tool, then prototype, test and verify.

This course will enable you to:

• Understand CCD specifications and device physics that relate to electronics processing
• Create charge-flow diagrams to develop CCD timing for basic readout, serial and parallel binning, etc.
• Understand the operation of timing generators and make tradeoffs between bit-period resolution and storage space
• Design programmable and variable CCD bias sources
• Model CCD clock phases as lumped and distributed loads
• Design, simulate using SPICE, and test clock drivers using the modeled CCD load
• Calculate the expected clock driver and CCD static and dynamic power dissipation
• Design CCD preamplifiers and gain stages
• Understand the theory and design of correlated double samplers
• Understand and specify analog-to-digital converters
• Understand power distribution, grounding schemes, and methods for rejecting power supply noise and ripple
• Perform overall system noise analysis in SPICE and in a spreadsheet
• Perform a complete electronics design example, starting with the CCD specifications and system requirements.

Part I: Introduction to CCD Electronics

• Outline the basics of CCDs
• Describe CCD construction
• List typical imaging system specifications

Part II: Timing Generators and Bias Generators

• Explain timing generator theory
• Describe typical timing generator implementations and tradeoffs
• Interpret charge-flow diagrams
• Explain generator theory and design

Part III: Clock Driver Theory

• Explain clock driver theory
• Describe distributed clock driver models
• Describe low-speed design example
• Describe high-speed design example
• Explain power dissipation analysis

Part IV: Video Processing Background

• Outline noise basics
• Explain noise in the CCD processing system

Part V: Video Processing Design Techniques

• Show preamplifier design
• Explain correlated double sampler theory and design
• Describe analogue to digital converters

Part VI: Video Processing Design Techniques (cont.) and Introduction to System Analysis

• Explain power distribution, grounding, and printed circuit board layout
• Describe system analysis techniques
• Explain methods for rejecting power supply noise

Part VII: Video Processing System Analysis and Lab Testing

• Perform system analysis using SPICE
• Test system in the lab setting
• Summarize contents of course

Intended Audience: Engineers, scientists, technicians and managers who desire to understand the details of CCD electronics design, and are interested in real-world applications: what works and what doesn't.

Order Number: VT121196
Length: 7 hours
Individual Price: List Price US$535
Site License: List Price US$1,250

filmo@filmo.com