ABSTRACT. This paper presents the basic design of the Gemini Near-Infrared Imager (NIRI) and discusses its capabilities. NIRI offers three different pixel scales to match different operating modes of the Gemini telescope and allows polarimetric and spectroscopic observations. It is equipped with an infrared on-instrument wave-front sensor (OIWFS) to allow tip-tilt and focus correction even in highly obscured regions. The science detector array is an Aladdin II InSb pixel device sensitive from 1.0 to 5.5 mm. 1024 # 1024
This paper presents the results of a preliminary evaluation of a platinum silicide (PtSi) Schottky CCD as an imaging array for astronomical applications. The work was done in the near-infrared (1.2 ,um < X < 2.5 ,um) spectral regime, where there is presently a lack of commercially available panoramic arrays with acceptable performance. During an initial test run, the array detected a star of magnitude 3.5 using an integration time of 128 msec. Proper optimization of the readout electronics, cryostat configuration, and matching of the telescope image scale to the pixel size could allow detection of a source-100 times fainter in a 1-sec integration time. This paper will discuss the array architecture, measurement and signal processing techniques, and the observatory and laboratory evaluation tests.
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