The lecture courses take place in the Huygens building #427 on Thursdays from 13:45 - 15:30 hr (unless otherwise noted - see schedule below). The lectures run from 10 September through 10 December, 2009.
In addition there will be exercises in the Huygens building #204 on Wednesdays from 13:45 - 15:30 hr (unless otherwise noted - see schedule below). The exercises run from 23 September through 16 December, 2009.
The lecturer is Dr. Bernhard Brandl, office: #535 (Oort building), phone (071) 527-5830, email. The teaching assistant is Juan Rafael Martinez Galarza, office: #441, email .
Detectors are the crucial link between the astronomical target and the observer. As astronomers are aiming at fainter and fainter objects the quality and calibration of the detector systems have become increasingly important. The main goal of this course is to provide an overview of the various techniques to detect electromagnetic radiation, from the UV to the sub-millimeter. Course topics are intrinsic and extrinsic photo-conductors, photodiodes and other junction-based detectors, detector arrays, bolometers, coherent receivers, and submillimeter- and millimeterwave heterodyne receivers. The course will not only provide the physical background of the various detector technologies but also cover practical aspects, which are of general interest to the observer, such as cosmetic quality, linearity and dynamical range, spectral response and bandwidth, and quantum efficiency and noise. For more details see schedule below.
The course will be heavily based on the book Detection of Light - from the Ultraviolet to the Submillimeter, by George Rieke, 2nd Edition, 2003, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-01710-6. It is recommended that students get their own copy of this book. [Chapters taken from that book are labeled `GR' in the table below].
Further reading:
Exams will be oral, by appointment. Grades will be based on the oral exam (2/3) and two practical exercises involving data reduction/analysis with IDL (1/3). The theoretical exercises on Wednesdays are optional but strongly recommended; the practical exercises are mandatory and also given on Wednesday (see schedule below). Credits for the course: 6 EC points.
Date |
Location |
Lecture topic |
Book chapter |
10-Sep-09 |
HL 427 |
Introduction (motivation, overview), Photography |
GR1,8 PL7, IM1 |
17-Sep-09 |
HL 427 |
Basic solid state physics |
CK, BS1,3, GR2, MK3,4 |
23-Sep-09 |
HL 204
|
Exercises | |
24-Sep-09 |
HL 427 |
Intrinsic photoconductors |
GR2 |
30-Sep-09 |
HL 204
|
Noise / Extrinsic photoconductors |
GR2,3
|
01-Oct-09 |
HL 427
|
Exercises | |
07-Oct-09 |
HL 204
|
Exercises | |
08-Oct-09 |
HL 204
|
Stressed and BIB Detectors and Photodiodes |
GR3, GR4
|
14-Oct-09 |
HL 204
|
Exercises | |
15-Oct-09 |
HL 427 |
Photodiodes and their variants |
GR4, BS5,6,8 |
21-Oct-09 |
HL 204
|
Exercises | |
22-Oct-09 |
HL 427 |
Detector Arrays, Artifacts, and Readout Electronics |
GR5, GR6, GH1,3, JJ
|
28-Oct-09 |
HL421 |
Practical exercises: IDL_template, image1, image2, image3a, image3b, image3c | |
29-Oct-09 |
HL 427 |
Multiplexers and Readout schemes, CCDs |
GR6, GH1
|
04-Nov-09 |
HL 204
|
Exercises | |
05-Nov-09 |
HL 427 |
CCDs (part 2) |
GR6, GH1
|
11-Nov-09 |
HL 204
|
Bolometers/incoherent receivers |
GR9
|
12-Nov-09 |
HL427
|
Exercises | |
18-Nov-09 |
HL421
|
Practical exercises: image1, image2, image3 | |
19-Nov-09 |
HL 427 |
Bolometers/incoherent receivers |
GR9 |
25-Nov-09 |
HL 204
|
Exercises | |
26-Nov-09 |
HL 427 |
Heterodyne/coherent receivers (part I) |
GR10,11, JK7, RT7 |
02-Dec-09 |
--
|
No exercises | |
3-Dec-09 |
HL 427 |
Heterodyne/coherent receivers (part II) |
GR10,11 |
09-Dec-09 |
HL 204
|
Exercises | |
10-Dec-09 |
HL 427 |
Performance comparison, Gunn Oscillators, SIS, HEBs, and MKIDs |
GR11,12 |
16-Dec-09 |
HL 204
|
Exercises |