Effects of Radiation Damage on Scientific Charge Coupled Devices

The charge coupled devices (CCDs) operate in the charge domain. The electrical signals that propagate through the device are small bundles of charge carriers, either electrons or holes. These charge packets are created, stored, and moved around inside the device to perform the operations required. The fundamental unit of a CCD is a metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) capacitor on which the charge packets are stored. If two of these capacitors …