PN-CCD camera for XMM and ABRIXAS: design of the camera system

The pn-Charge Coupled Device (pn-CCD) camera was developed as one of the focal plane instruments for the European Photon Imaging Camera on board the x-ray multi mirror mission. An identical camera was foreseen on board ABRIXAS, a German x-ray satellite. The pn-CCD camera is an imaging x- ray detector for single photon counting, operating at a temperature below -80 degrees C. Due to a 0.3 mm depletion depth of the CCDs, the detector has a high quantum efficiency up to 15 keV. The effective area of the instrument is 6 cm X 6 cm with 12 CCDs monolithically integrated on a single silicon wafer. The camera includes a filter wheel with different filters for suppression of optical and UV light. A radioactive source provides an in- orbit calibration. In this paper we give an overview of the mechanical, thermal and electrical design of the instrument and a description of different readout and test modes. More detailed information about the performance and calibration of the instrument can be found in companion papers.