Requirements for Optical Spectrograph.docx

Requirements for optical spectrograph RVBXI requires a spectrograph to capture low-light spectral data from a planned chemical release experiment and its effects on the background ionosphere.

Specific requirements:

· Must simultaneously cover the spectral range from 400-850 nm with 1 nm or better resolution (1000 pixels or more)

· Must operate at focal ratio of f/4 or less

· Must have an adjustable slit spanning the range from 10 um to 3 mm.

· Must have an image size no smaller than approx. 25mm x 8 mm (1/2” CCD equivalent area)

· Must have blazed gratings suitable for operation in the visible (500 nm) and near infra-red (750 nm)

· Detector must be cooled to -70C or less, be scientific grade back-illuminated with peak quantum efficiency of 95% or better and above 50% over the range from 400-850 nm, be at least 1” x ¼ in in dimension (25mm x 8 mm), operate via USB interface, allow integration times from 1 to 100 seconds, feature a permanent vacuum seal, have dark current less than 0.01 electron/pixel/second, readout noise of less than 12 electrons/pixel, and have 16 bit digitization.