Outstanding Conference Paper Award

The recipients of the 1994 NSREC Outstanding Conference Paper Award are Gordon Hopkinson of SIRA Ltd., Isobel Hopkins of SIRA/UCL Postgraduate Centre, and Bengt Johlander of ESA/ESTEC, for their paper entitled, "Proton-Induced Charge Transfer Degradation in CCDs for Near-Room Temperature Applications." The paper describes an innovative optical technique for measuring charge transfer inefficiency in CCDs operated in the near-room-temperature-range of -30°C to 30°C. The optical spot technique enables the measurement of CTD dependence on signal size, background charge, and clock waveform shape, as well as trap emission times, as a function of these variables. The technique involves spot illumination of the CCD, followed by repeated charge transfer regimes. It is applicable to any CCD and yields improved accuracy over the x-ray method. The paper reflects strong current interest in CCD hardness issues as these devices become more pervasive in space applications