Enhancing the far-UV sensitivity of silicon CMOS imaging arrays

K. D. Retherford; Yibin Bai; Kevin K. Ryu; J. A. Gregory; Paul B. Welander; Michael W. Davis; Thomas K. Greathouse; Gregory S. Winter; Vyshnavi Suntharalingam; James W. Beletic

doi:10.1117/12.2054840

Translator Disclaimer

23 July 2014 Enhancing the far-UV sensitivity of silicon CMOS imaging arrays

K. D. Retherford, Yibin Bai, Kevin K. Ryu, J. A. Gregory, Paul B. Welander, Michael W. Davis, Thomas K. Greathouse, Gregory S. Winter, Vyshnavi Suntharalingam, James W. Beletic

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9154, High Energy, Optical, and Infrared Detectors for Astronomy VI; 915412 (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2054840
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2014, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Abstract

We report our progress toward optimizing backside-illuminated silicon PIN CMOS devices developed by Teledyne Imaging Sensors (TIS) for far-UV planetary science applications. This project was motivated by initial measurements at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) of the far-UV responsivity of backside-illuminated silicon PIN photodiode test structures described in Bai et al., SPIE, 2008, which revealed a promising QE in the 100-200 nm range as reported in Davis et al., SPIE, 2012. Our effort to advance the capabilities of thinned silicon wafers capitalizes on recent innovations in molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) doping processes. Key achievements to date include: 1) Representative silicon test wafers were fabricated by TIS, and set up for MBE processing at MIT Lincoln Laboratory (LL); 2) Preliminary far-UV detector QE simulation runs were completed to aid MBE layer design; 3) Detector fabrication was completed through the pre-MBE step; and 4) Initial testing of the MBE doping process was performed on monitoring wafers, with detailed quality assessments. Early results suggest that potential challenges in optimizing the UV-sensitivity of silicon PIN type CMOS devices, compared with similar UV enhancement methods established for CCDs, have been mitigated through our newly developed methods. We will discuss the potential advantages of our approach and briefly describe future development steps.

Citation Download Citation

K. D. Retherford, Yibin Bai, Kevin K. Ryu, J. A. Gregory, Paul B. Welander, Michael W. Davis, Thomas K. Greathouse, Gregory S. Winter, Vyshnavi Suntharalingam, and James W. Beletic "Enhancing the far-UV sensitivity of silicon CMOS imaging arrays", Proc. SPIE 9154, High Energy, Optical, and Infrared Detectors for Astronomy VI, 915412 (23 July 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2054840

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE