Imaging sensors for PoET: a spatially resolved solar spectroscopy instrument

The study of the Sun is an area still open in several topics of astrophysics, in a field that has seen an expansion in recent years - therefore, it is critical that collected data is thoroughly traceable and accurate to be used in new study cases or predictive models. A ground based, portable, optimized system, consisting of a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope coupled to a refractor telescope acting as a pointing telescope, is being designed to provide high resolution imaging of smaller areas on the Sun’s surface, being able to obtain disk-resolved, high spectral resolution data, at a relative low cost (compared to large consortium developed instruments). The light collected by the telescope will be fibre-fed to a spectrograph - the injection of light in the fibre is critical and requires an imaging sensor to aid the light guiding process. The goal of the present work was to explore the best candidates for the image sensors, their architectures, requirements, and constraints, as well as their expected performance range and signal noise. The trade-off analysis between CMOS and CCD based sensors was made and it was concluded, that for the intended application, either type of architecture is admissible, provided the sensor is within desired parameters.