The following pages contain information on the performance of Wide Field Camera 3 and its components.

Performance Information

Flight Detectors

UVIS 

  • Components: 2x2Kx4K thinned, backside illuminated, UV optimized e2v CCDs
  • Wavelength Range: 200 to 1000 nm
  • Total Field of View: 162 x 162 arcsec (rhomboidal)
  • Pixel format: 2 butted 2051x4096, 31-pixel gap (1.2").
  • Pixel Size: 15x15 microns
  • Plate Scale: 0.04 arcsec/pixel
  • Nominal Operating Temperature: -83C
  • Dark Current: ~9 e-/hr/pix (median) [Revised May 2019. See WFC3 IHB, Table 5.1]
  • Readnoise: 3.1 e-
  • Full Well: 63,000 -- 72,000 e- [See WFC3 IHB, Table 5.1]
  • Gain: 1.52 - 1.56 e-/ADU
  • Instrument Throughput: UVIS filters

IR 

  • Components: 1Kx1K Teledyne HgCdTe FPA, MBE grown, substrate removed
  • Wavelength Range: 800 to 1700 nm
  • Total Field of View: 123 x 136 arcsec (rectangular)
  • Pixel format: 1024x1024 (1014x1014 active)
  • Pixel Size: 18 microns
  • Plate Scale: 0.13 arcsec/pixel
  • Nominal Operating Temperature: 145 K
  • Dark Current: 0.048 e-/sec/pix (median) [See WFC3 IHB, Table 5.1]
  • Readnoise: 21 e- (CDS), 12 e- (16-read linear fit) [See WFC3 IHB, Table 5.1]
  • Full Well: 77,900 e- [See WFC3 IHB, Table 5.1]
  • Gain: 2.5 e-/ADU
  • Instrument Throughput: IR filters

Image Quality

  • Image quality analysis of the IR channel shows ~85% of the flux for a point source falling within a radius of ~0.4 arcseconds when observed through the F110W filter. The encircled flux decreases with increasing wavelength to ~83% within a radius of ~0.4 arcseconds for a point source observed through the F160W filter. For more information on the IR detector encircled energy as a function of wavelength please see ISR 2009-37  and the IR Encircled Energy webpage.
  • Image quality analysis of the UVIS channel shows ~87% of the flux for a point source falling within a radius of ~0.4 arcseconds when observed through the F275W filter. The encircled flux slightly increases with increasing wavelength to ~90% within a radius of ~0.4 arcseconds for a point source observed through the F814W filter. For more information on the UVIS detector encircled energy as a function of wavelength please see ISR 2022-02 and the UVIS Encircled Energy webpage

 

We provide information regarding the point-spread function for the WFC3 detectors on the PSF webpage.

Both detectors experience anomalies that affect image quality. For more information, please see the Anomalies webpage

Documentation

We provide a selection of recent and relevant Instrument Science Reports (ISRs) describing the image quality and photometric performance of the WFC3 detectors. For additional reports, please see the WFC3 ISR page.

 

Last Updated: 11/30/2023

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