| Tektronix TK2048M M424A CCD Image Sensor | |
| Written by AnubisTTP on 2025-11-01 |
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This extremely large CCD, originally manufactured by Tektronix, has an unusual pedigree; it is a prototype of one of the image sensors that would eventually fly into space aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. This device has a complicated and confusing history. In 1985 Textronix released a press statement announcing the creation of what was believed to be the largest CCD imager in the world, the TK2048M, featuring a picture of this device as the prototype. Textronix anticipated the 4-megapixel TK2048M would be available for sale in 1985 for the price of $40,000 per unit. The device that was actually released in 1986 under the TK2048M part number had a significant difference from the prototype shown here however; instead of being packaged in a ceramic sandwich carrier, production units are installed in an 80 pin Kovar bathtub package. In 1989 Textronix announced that a pair of modified TK2048M CCDs would be the 'eyes' of the Hubble Space Telescope's imaging spectrograph. However, the imaging spectrograph was not ready in time for Hubble's 1990 launch date, and in 1993 Tektronix spun their CCD division off into a new company, Scientific Imaging Technologies, which continued to make the TK2048M as a new part number, the SI-424. A pair of SI-424's did eventually fly to Hubble when the imaging spectrograph was completed and installed in 1997. SI-424's have also been installed in a number of other historic devices, including the Keck telescope and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey telescope, which contains 30 SI-424 CCDs arranged in a grid and graded for different spectral responses.
Tektronix TK2048M CCD image sensor, at rest, The production version of this CCD eventually flew on the Hubble space telescope.
The Tektronix TK2048M CCD was the largest CCD in the world when it was created.
Tektronix TK2048M, underside. This part was eventually sold (in a gold Kovar package) as the SI-424 by Scientific Imaging Technologies.
Tektronix TK2048M CCD, promotional material from 1985.
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