ACIS_SIM: Simulations of CCD Response to X-rays
Due to the difficulties and expense associated with collecting X-ray
CCD data, astronomers have relied on simulations of such devices almost
as long as they have used the devices themselves. Every X-ray CCD group
has its own simulation code; that code is usually subject to rapid and
radical change as the physics of these devices becomes better understood
and the devices themselves evolve. Under this paradigm, the ACIS partnership
between PSU and MIT has seen the development of two virtually independent
ACIS simulators. Each one has strengths and weaknesses; each invokes different
aspects of the physics to explain the data. Both are under active development.
The following descriptions and results pertain only to the PSU version.
(See Chapter 4 for a discussion of
results based on the MIT CCD simulator.)