Fast CCD Imaging Systems for Tilt-Tip and Wavefront Sensing Applications

Abstract

New generations of fast, low-noise CCDs and their controllers are achieving the read-out noise and high frame rates that are critical to the successful completion of true adaptive optics systems. We describe the performance achieved for a variety of systems from those on COAST (Cambridge Optical Aperture Synthesis Telescope), the site evaluation program on the William Herschel Telescope on La Palma, and the results from the latest fast CCDs and new generation of CCD controllers.