Related papers: Conference summary: Workshop on Precision Astronom…
Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) has a broad range of applications in materials characterization, including real-space imaging, spectroscopy, and diffraction, at length scales from the micron to sub-{\AA}ngstr\"om. The…
The ambitious goals of precision cosmology with wide-field optical surveys such as the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) demand, as their foundation, precision CCD astronomy. This in turn requires an…
(ABRIDGED) This dissertation concerns the use of CCDs for for X-ray astronomy. Part I of this thesis focuses on the calibration of the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS), one of the two primary focal plane instruments on the Chandra…
Low noise CCDs fully-depleted up to 675 micrometers have been identified as a unique tool for Dark Matter searches and low energy neutrino physics. The charge collection efficiency (CCE) for these detectors is a critical parameter for the…
A variety of on-orbit imaging and spectroscopic observations are used to characterize the Charge Transfer Efficiency (CTE) of the Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) of the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) aboard the Hubble Space…
Cosmology has entered an era of unprecedented precision, yet increasing accuracy has revealed cracks in the standard $\Lambda$CDM paradigm. Although the model remains highly successful when confronted with individual datasets, joint…
Strong lensing time delay cosmography has excellent complementarity with other dark energy probes, and will soon have abundant systems detected. We investigate two issues in the imaging and spectroscopic followup required to obtain the time…
Images from the next generation of telescopes will enable strikingly detailed reconstruction of the dark matter distributions in galaxy cluster cores using strong gravitational lensing analysis. This will provide a key test of Lambda-CDM…
The design of electron multiplying CCD cameras require a very different approach from that appropriate for slow scan CCD operation. This paper describes the main problems in using electron multiplying CCDs for high-speed, photon counting…
With the rapid advancement of 3D sensing technologies, obtaining 3D shape information of objects has become increasingly convenient. Lidar technology, with its capability to accurately capture the 3D information of objects at long…
Sweep coverage is to realize the periodic coverage of targets by planning the periodic sweeping paths of mobile sensors. It is difficult for sensors to reduce energy consumption by reducing the moving distances. Therefore, charging…
The advent of modern, high-speed electron detectors has made the collection of multidimensional hyperspectral transmission electron microscopy datasets, such as 4D-STEM, a routine. However, many microscopists find such experiments daunting…
In my thesis I study mesoscopic corrections on diffuse transport. I first describe the diffuse transport of light, using the scalar approximation and the radiative transfer approach. Next, I focus on the correlations in transmission, I…
X-ray photon-counting detectors (PCDs) are drawing an increasing attention in recent years due to their low noise and energy discrimination capabilities. The energy/spectral dimension associated with PCDs potentially brings great benefits…
Defects in semiconductor crystals can have significant detrimental effects on their performance as radiation detectors. Defects cause charge trapping and recombination, leading to lower signal amplitudes and poor energy resolution. We have…
Future X-ray astrophysics missions will survey large areas of the sky with unparalleled sensitivity, enabled by lightweight, high-resolution optics. These optics inherently produce curved focal surfaces with radii as small as 2 m, requiring…
In this work, we will present a physical model and measurements of the transport of small charge packets in the bulk of thick high resistivity CCD before being collected by the pixel potential wells. A new technique to measure the lateral…
Charge Transfer Inefficiency (CTI) due to radiation damage above the Earth's atmosphere creates spurious trailing in Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images. Radiation damage also creates unrelated warm pixels - but these happen to be perfect…
The development of technologies for creating various types of solid-state detectors for optical astronomy is reviewed. The principles of designing astronomical photodetecting systems with large-format sensors based on charge-coupled device…
Motivated by the recognition that variation in the optical transmission of the atmosphere is probably the main limitation to the precision of ground-based CCD measurements of celestial fluxes, we review the physical processes that attenuate…