Sensor Control Chip (SCC)

This is the Sensor Control Chip (SCC) designed for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). The Integrated Circuits and Systems Laboratory (ICASL) at UT, led by Dr. Benjamin J. Blalock, is developing the SCC which incorporates cold-temperature, mixed-signal/mixed-voltage design techniques from its research in extreme environment integrated circuit design. Crucial to the success of SCC is ICASL's collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory/UT Joint Faculty Dr. Charles Britton and Dr. Nance Ericson. LSST will be used to research dark energy and dark matter. LSST's camera is composed of 3 Gpixels of charge-coupled devices (CCDs). The LSST instrument will cover the entire sky every 3 nights by taking continuous 15-s exposures. The SCC will function as the charge-coupled device (CCD) driver, which provides the clock signal and bias control signal for LSST's CCD panels.