The effects of nuclear radiation on P-channel CCD imagers

Analysis of the relationship between the Charge Transfer Efficiency (CTE) and dark current of CCD imagers, and the defects introduced into silicon by displacement damage, led to the prediction that P-channel CCDs would be more radiation hard than conventional N-channel CCDs. Proton and Co/sup 60/ testing of 1024/spl times/640 P-channel CCD imagers confirmed this prediction, showing significant reduction in CTE degradation compared to N-channel devices. Also, dark current data shows that "hot pixel" generation is significantly reduced in these devices.