BRAINCAKECharge-Coupled Devices
A charge-coupled device (CCD) is a silicon chip divided into a grid of millions of tiny light-sensitive picture elements, called pixels. CCDs have replaced photographic film and the eye for recording astronomical images.
How it works:
• incident photons cause electrons to be released in the silicon of each pixel
• the electrons are trapped in potential wells under each pixel during the exposure
• the charge collected in each pixel is proportional to the intensity of the light that fell on it
• after the exposure the charges are moved out pixel by pixel and measured, giving a digital image
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All 24 lessons in Astrophysics · All AQA A-level Physics topics