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Detectors. RIT Course Number 1051-465 Lecture CMOS Detectors . Aims for this lecture. To describe CMOS hybrid and monolithic detectors physical principles operation and performance of CMOS detectors Given modern examples of CMOS detectors . Lecture Outline. CMOS detector definition
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Detectors RIT Course Number 1051-465 Lecture CMOS Detectors
Aims for this lecture • To describe CMOS hybrid and monolithic detectors • physical principles • operation • and performance of CMOS detectors • Given modern examples of CMOS detectors
Lecture Outline • CMOS detector definition • CMOS detector principles of operation • Performance of modern CMOS detectors • Examples of CMOS detectors • Historical context of CMOS detectors
CMOS Detector Definition • CMOS detectors are made of complimentary MOSFET circuits connected to light-sensitive materials. • The voltage change due to integrated photogenerated charge is generally sensed directly through a source follower amplifier in each pixel, instead of via a charge transfer process, i.e. in CCDs. • Charge is sensed as a voltage directly in the pixel and is not reset every time it is sensed, unlike in a CCD. • The readout circuit is often called a “multiplexer” because it can sequentially direct signals from multiple pixels to an individual output amplifier. • Historically, they have been developed later than CCDs, and first for infrared astronomy detectors.
CMOS vs. CCD Readout • CMOS has “direct readout (DRO)” random access architecture. • (Note that the CMOS device in the figure has readout circuitry that takes up some real estate – it is frontside illuminated, producing non-ideal fill factor.)
CMOS Detector Types • Monolithic (“one piece”) • readout and photodiode integrated in same part, which means that light sensitive layer is made of silicon (only sensitive to optical photons) • frontside or backside illuminated • can be made with mostly standardized CMOS processes that are common to the commercial semiconductor industry • Hybrid (“two pieces”) • readout circuit is separate from photodiode • readout is made of silicon • photodiode is made of semiconductor with suitable cutoff wavelength • requires many custom steps
Hybrid Array Benefits • Hybrid arrays are used when one wants to detect light of wavelengths that are not absorbed by silicon, i.e. wavelengths beyond ~1um. • Infrared arrays are “hybrids” – they use one material to detect light and silicon for the readout circuit.
Readout Integrated Circuit (ROIC)also known as the Multiplexer
Periodic Table • Semiconductors occupy column IV of the Periodic Table • Outer shells have four empty valence states • An outer shell electron can leave the shell if it absorbs enough energy
Periodic Table Continued • The column number gives the number of valence electrons per atom. Primary semiconductors have 4. • Compounds including elements from neighboring columns can be formed. These alloys have semiconductor properties as well (e.g. HgCdTe & InSb). • Mercury-cadmium-telluride (HgCdTe; used in NICMOS) and indium-antimonide (InSb; used in SIRTF) are the dominant detector technologies in the near-IR.
Dark Current • Dark current is the signal that is seen in the absence of any light. • The dominant components are diffusion across the pn junction, thermal generation-recombination (G-R) of charges within the bulk of the semiconductor, and leakage currents typically through surfaces. • Dark current adds an effective noise due to the shot noise of the dark charge. • Dark current can be reduced by cooling.
Read Noise • Read noise is the uncertainty in the signal measurement due to electrical fluctuations produced by the detector. • For CMOS devices, it is due to: • Johnson noise of FETs • random telegraph signal (a.k.a. popcorn noise) in the output FET • interface states at material surfaces • Typical read noise values for CMOS devices are around 10 electrons.
Sampling Schemes • By being a bit clever about reading out the array, one can minimize or eliminate some of these noise modes. • During an exposure, typically each pixel is sampled several times. • The most common approaches are correlated double sampling (CDS), multiple non-destructive reads (aka “Fowler Sampling”), & fitting a line (aka “up the ramp”).
“Up the Ramp” • Fit best line to multiple non-destructive samples. • Sample spacing does not need to be uniform. • Not clear whether this or Fowler sampling is best. • This is what is done in NICMOS MULTIACCUM mode.
Well Depth and Non-linearity • Well capacity is defined as the maximum charge that can be held in a pixel. • “Saturation” is the term that describes when a pixel has accumulated the maximum amount of charge that it can hold. • The “full well” capacity in a CCD is typically a few hundred thousand electrons per pixel for today’s technologies.
Persistence • Persistence is the afterimage that a detector can produce if it traps charge from a previous exposure and releases it during the current exposure. • It is produced by charge traps. • Charge traps will decay with an exponential timescale.
Pixel-to-pixel Crosstalk • Crosstalk is the generic term that describes signal contamination due to the presence of a signal in another pixel or electrical channel. • Charge diffusion from one pixel to a neighbor is an important crosstalk mechanism in IR arrays and CCDs. • Once charge carriers are created, their motion is governed by charge diffusion.
IPC • Interpixel capacitance (IPC) is a form of crosstalk. • In this case, charge in a pixel induces a voltage change in a neighbor, just like the behavior between parallel plates in a capacitor. • The effect is to blur the point spread function. • The induced voltage does not have noise.
IPC • In this example, IPC is very large for the H4RG SiPIN device (10 um pixel size).
Teledyne H4RG Si PIN • This is an image of the H4RG device in the Rochester Imagingn Detector Laboratory (RIDL).