The absolute stability of the PACS bolometer response over the entire mission
lifetime without applying any corrections is about 0.5% (standard deviation) or
about 8% peak-to-peak. This fantastic stability allows us to calibrate all
scientific measurements by a fixed and time-independent response file, without
using any information from the PACS internal calibration sources. However, the
analysis of calibration block observations revealed clear correlations of the
internal source signals with the evaporator temperature and a signal drift
during the first half hour after the cooler recycling. These effects are small,
but can be seen in repeated measurements of standard stars. From our analysis
we established corrections for both effects which push the stability of the
PACS bolometer response to about 0.2% (stdev) or 2% in the blue, 3% in the
green and 5% in the red channel (peak-to-peak). After both corrections we still
see a correlation of the signals with PACS FPU temperatures, possibly caused by
parasitic heat influences via the Kevlar wires which connect the bolometers
with the PACS Focal Plane Unit. No aging effect or degradation of the
photometric system during the mission lifetime has been found.Comment: 15 pages, accepted for publication in Experimental Astronom
