Device for the investigation of highly resolved partial spectra of an

Abstract

The invention refers to a device for investigating highly resolved partial spectra of an echelle spectrum, being applicable to the simultaneous determination of the intensities of different spectral elements of a radiation spectrum produced by an echelle spectrometer. The device consists of a position-resolving photoelectric detector including several photosensors arranged on an IC chip, where said photosensors are arranged on the chip surface discretely at the positions of preselected spectral lines, each of the photosensors consisting of a CCD sensor row and a logic circuit which, depending on activation levels, enables supply potentials and clock signals to be connected and output signals to be transferred to a common output signal line; the areas of the individual sensor elements of the CCD sensor rows being matched to the spectral elements of the echelle spectrum and extending successively in the direction of dispersion of the echelle grating; the total number of sensor elements of all CCD sensor rows on the chip being smaller than the number of spectral elements in the echelle spectrum; and a digital logic circuit enabling, by means of the activation levels managed by it, the serial readout of the signals from a selsotable subset of all CCD sensor rows in a selectable order of succession, via the common output signal line, depending on external control signals.