Proton Irradiation Experiment for X-ray Charge-Coupled Devices of the Monitor of All-Sky X-ray Image Mission Onboard the International Space Station: I. Experimental Setup and Measurement of the Charge Transfer Inefficiency

We have investigated the radiation damage effects on a charge-cloupled device (CCD) to be employed in the Japanese X-ray astronomy mission including the monitor of all-sky X-ray image (MAXI) onboard the international space station (ISS). Since low-energy protons release their energy mainly at the charge transfer channel, resulting in a decrease of the charge transfer efficiency, we focused on low-energy protons in our experiments. A 171 keV to 3.91 MeV proton beam was irradiated onto a given device. We measured the degradation of the charge transfer inefficiency (CTI) as a function of incremental fluence. A 292 keV proton beam degraded the CTI critically. Taking into account the proton energy dependence of the CTI, we confirmed that the transfer channel has the lowest radiation tolerance. We have also developed different device architectures to reduce the radiation damage in orbit. Among them, the “notch” CCD, in which the buried channel implant concentration is increased, resulting in a potential well deeper than outside, has a three times higher radiation tolerance than that of the normal CCD. We then estimated the CTI of the CCD in the orbit of the ISS, considering the proton energy spectrum. The CTI value is estimated to be 1.1 ×10-5 per transfer after two years of mission life in the worst case analysis if the highest radiation tolerant device is employed. This value is well within the acceptable limit and we have confirmed the high radiation-tolerance of CCDs for the MAXI mission.