Rad-Hard SOI CMOS Active Pixel Sensor for Charged Particle Detection

Detectors used in nuclear physics experiments require improvements in sensitivity, readout speed, radiation hardness, and sensor thickness. Of the available detector technologies, CMOS pixellated imagers offer several advantages, but, to date, CMOS detectors, due to readout and fixed pattern noise, have not been widely used for scientific instrumentation. They are also difficult to thin. This project seeks to overcome the limitations of contemporary SOI (silicon-on-insulator) CMOS active pixel sensor (APS) technology by establishing a new class of back-thinned, radiation-hard, thinned SOI CMOS imagers. The imagers are based on 15-µm thick, back-illuminated SOI CMOS pixels that merge the advantages of fully depleted sensors with advanced in-pixel functionality, providing a genuine monolithic detector. By fabricating the CMOS APS imagers on SOI wafers, performance can be greatly improved. Because of its planar structure, SOI also makes it easier to passivate surfaces for low dark-current generation, which will make the device much more resistant to radiation. Commercial Applications and other Benefits as described by the awardee In addition to applications in nuclear physics, the new detection technology should find use in radiological imaging, protein crystallography, time-resolved x-ray synchrotron science, electron microscopy, and laser radar