Charge-Collection Efficiency in Back-Illuminated Charge-Coupled Devices

Charged-coupled devices (CCDs) are among the most promising technologies to enable experiments in the direct search for low-mass dark matter, and a new generation of compact neutrino detectors. Understanding the charge-collection efficiency of these detectors is a limiting factor for current and future experiments. The authors present a technique to characterize and measure the efficiency as a function of the charge-generation depth, with submicrometer precision. Using these tools, they furthermore compare the performance of two different back-side treatments and discuss the implications for CCD research and development.