Design and characterization of ionizing radiation-tolerant CMOS APS image sensors up to 30 Mrd (Si) total dose

Author

Eid, El-Sayed ; Chan, Tony Y. ; Fossurn, E.R. ; Tsai, Richard H. ; Spagnuolo, Robert ; Deily, John ; Byers, Wheaton B. ; Peden, Joseph C.

Author_Institution

Photobit Technol. Corp., Pasadena, CA, USA

Volume

48

Issue

6

fYear

2001

fDate

12/1/2001 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1796

Lastpage

1806

Abstract

An ionizing radiation-tolerant CMOS active pixel sensor (APS) image sensor test chip was designed employing the physical design techniques of enclosed geometry and P-channel guard rings. The test chip was fabricated in a standard 0.35-μm CMOS process that has a gate-oxide thickness of 7.0 nm. It was irradiated by a γ-ray source up to a total ionizing radiation dose level of approximately 30 Mrd (Si) and was still functional. The most pronounced effect was the increase of dark current, which was linear with total dose level. The rate of dark current increase was about 1 to 2 pA/cm²/Krd (Si), depending on the design of the pixel. The results demonstrate that CMOS APS image sensors can be designed to be ionizing radiation tolerant to total dose levels up to 30 Mrd (Si). The fabrication process is standard CMOS, yielding a significant cost advantage over specialized radiation hard processes

Keywords

CMOS image sensors; dark conductivity; gamma-ray effects; integrated circuit design; integrated circuit measurement; integrated circuit testing; radiation hardening (electronics); γ-ray source; 0.35 micron; 30 Mrad; 7.0 nm; CMOS APS image sensors; CMOS active pixel sensor; P-channel guard rings; dark current; design techniques; enclosed geometry; fabrication process; gate-oxide thickness; image sensor test chip; ionizing radiation tolerance; ionizing radiation-tolerant CMOS APS image sensors; test chip; total dose; total dose level; total dose levels; total ionizing radiation dose; CMOS image sensors; CMOS process; Dark current; Geometry; Image sensors; Ionizing radiation; Ionizing radiation sensors; Pixel; Sensor phenomena and characterization; Testing;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/23.983133

Filename

983133