Software for automated testing and characterization of CCDs for Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST)

We present the latest modifications of the open source observatory control software package RTS2. New features were developed specifically for the automated testing of CCD chips for the mosaic camera of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. Currently, the system is in operation at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, USA and at Laboratoire de Physique Nucleaire et des Hautes Energies in Paris, France. RTS2 software is currently used to characterize the sensors from various vendors and will be used first for selection and then for testing of production CCD sensors. With our system we are able to automatically obtain a series of images for analysis. Data is used to study many aspects of sensor characteristics, including wavelength dependence of quantum efficiency, the dark current, and the linearity of the CCD response as a function of back-bias voltage and temperature. We also can measure a point spread function over the whole surface of the CCD sensors.