Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ncar!noao!grandi
From: grandi@noao.edu (Steve Grandi)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: predicted yield of BIG microprocess
Message-ID: <1058@noao.UUCP>
Date: 28 Mar 89 21:33:40 GMT
References: <15878@obiwan.mips.COM> <46500056@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu>
Reply-To: grandi@noao.edu (Steve Grandi)
Organization: National Optical Astronomy Observatories, Tucson AZ
Lines: 18

In article <46500056@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu> mcdonald@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu writes:
>What I want is a BIG CCD camera chip. How do these relate in
>manufacturability to memories or CPU's. They are certainly simpler
>than CPU's, but are they as easy as DRAMS's? One can get 1 cm square 
>ones now, but I would like a much bigger one - say 2x2 or even 3x3 cm.

Tektronix has been trying to manufacture 2048 x 2048 CCD chips with 27
micron pixels for several years (that's 5.5cm plus a border).  So far no
"astronomy grade" chips have been produced, but several "engineering" grade
chips are floating around.  It is, apparently, not an easy chip to build.

Oh yes, an astronomy grade chip, ordered now, would probably cost you from 
$80-100K (we got our orders in years ago before Tektronix figured out how
hard the problem was; so we are only in for $50K a chip!).
-- 
Steve Grandi, National Optical Astronomy Observatories, Tucson AZ, 602-325-9228
UUCP: {arizona,decvax,ncar}!noao!grandi  or  uunet!noao.edu!grandi 
Internet: grandi@noao.edu             SPAN/HEPNET: NOAO::GRANDI (NOAO=5355)