title: Development and application of spherically curved charge-coupled device imagers.
abstract: Operation of a CCD imager on a curved focal surface offers advantages to flat focal planes, especially for lightweight, relatively simple optical systems. The first advantage is that the modulation transfer function can approach diffraction-limited performance for a spherical focal surface employed in large field-of-view or large-format imagers. The second advantage is that a curved focal surface maintains more uniform illumination as a function of radius from the field center. Examples of applications of curved imagers, described here, include a small compact imager and the large curved array used in the Space Surveillance Telescope. The operational characteristics and mechanical limits of an imager deformed to a 15 mm radius are also described.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Gregory
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: E C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Pearce
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Lambour
authors.forename: R Y
authors.initials: RY
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: H R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Warner
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Osgood
authors.forename: D F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Woods
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: DeCew
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Forman
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mendenhall
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: DeFranzo
authors.forename: V S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Dolat
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Loomis