PurposeActive matrix flat panel imagers (AMFPIs) with thin-film transistor arrays experience image quality degradation by electronic noise in low-dose radiography and fluoroscopy. One potential solution is to overcome electronic noise using avalanche gain in an amorphous selenium (a-Se) (HARP) photoconductor in indirect AMFPI. In this work, we aim to improve temporal performance of HARP using a novel composite hole blocking layer (HBL) structure and increase optical quantum efficiency (OQE) to CsI:Tl scintillators by tellurium (Te) doping.ApproachTwo different HARP structures were fabricated: Composite HBL samples and Te-doped samples. Dark current and optical sensitivity measurements were performed on the composite HBL samples to evaluate avalanche gain and temporal performance. The OQE and temporal performance of the Te-doped samples were characterized by optical sensitivity measurements. A charge transport model was used to investigate the hole mobility and lifetime of the Te-doped samples in combination with time-of-flight measurements.ResultsThe composite HBL has excellent temporal performance, with ghosting below 3% at 10 mR equivalent exposure. Furthermore, the composite HBL samples have dark current <10−10 A/cm2 and achieved an avalanche gain of 16. Te-doped samples increased OQE from 0.018 to 0.43 for 532 nm light. The addition of Te resulted in 2.1% first-frame lag, attributed to hole trapping within the layer.ConclusionsThe composite HBL and Te-doping can be utilized to improve upon the limitations of previously developed indirect HARP imagers, showing excellent temporal performance and increased OQE, respectively.
Active matrix flat panel imagers (AMFPIs) with thin-film transistor (TFT) arrays have become the dominant technology for digital x-ray imaging. However, their performance is degraded by electronic noise in low dose imaging applications. One potential solution is to overcome electronic noise using avalanche gain in an amorphous selenium (a-Se) photoconductor in indirect AMFPI, known as the scintillating high-gain avalanche rushing photoconductor AMFPI (SHARP-AMFPI). We previously developed two SHARP-AMFPI prototypes, however both have several areas of desired improvement. In this work, we fabricate and characterize HARP samples with a composite hole blocking layer (HBL) structure to reliably maintain avalanche fields while reducing temporal effects, as well as samples with tellurium (Te) alloyed a-Se to increase the optical quantum efficiency (OQE) to thallium doped cesium iodide (CsI:Tl) columnar scintillators. Our measurements show that the composite HBL has improved temporal performance over the original prototype, with ghosting below 3% at 10 mR equivalent exposure and no noticeable lag observed. We also show that the layer has comparable dark current to the previously used organic HBL and can reach an avalanche gain of 16. We aim to further reduce the dark current by improving the formulation of the n-type metal oxide layer using different deposition methods. Introducing Te-alloying to HARP samples shows an increase in OQE from 0.018 to 0.43 for 532 nm light. The addition of Te resulted in increased lag, attributed to charge trapping within the layer. Future work will investigate arsenic and chlorine co-doping to restore charge transport in this layer.
Active matrix flat panel imagers (AMFPIs) with thin film transistor (TFT) arrays are becoming the standard for digital x-ray imaging due to their high image quality and real time readout capabilities. However, in low dose applications their performance is degraded by electronic noise. A promising solution to this limitation is the Scintillator High-Gain Avalanche Rushing Photoconductor AMFPI (SHARP-AMFPI), an indirect detector that utilizes avalanche amorphous selenium (a-Se) to amplify optical signal from the scintillator prior to readout. We previously demonstrated the feasibility of a large area SHARP-AMFPI, however there are several areas of desired improvement. In this work, we present a newly fabricated SHARP-AMFPI prototype detector with the following developments: metal oxide hole blocking layer (HBL) with improved electron transport, transparent bias electrode for increased optical coupling, and detector assembly allowing for a back-irradiation (BI) geometry to improve detective quantum efficiency of scintillators. Our measurements showed that the new prototype has improved temporal performance, with lag and ghosting below 1%. We also show an improvement in optical coupling from 25% to 90% for cesium iodide (CsI) scintillator emissions. The remaining challenge of the SHARP-AMFPI is to reduce the dark current to prevent dielectric breakdown under high bias and further increase optical quantum efficiency (OQE) to CsI scintillators. We are proposing to use a newly developed quantum dot (QD) oxide layer, which shows to reduce the dark current by an order of magnitude, and tellurium doping, which could increase OQE to 85% to CsI at avalanche fields, in future prototype detectors.
We have investigated the dark current, optical TOF (time of flight) properties, and the X-ray response of amorphousselenium
(a-Se)/crystalline-silicon (c-Si) heterostructures for application in digital radiography. The structures have been
studied to determine if an x-ray generated electron signal, created in an a-Se layer, could be directly transferred to a c-Si
based readout device such as a back-thinned CCD (charge coupled device). A simple first order band-theory of the structure
indicates that x-ray generated electrons should transfer from the
a-Se to the c-Si, while hole transfer from p-doped c-Si to
the a-Se should be blocked, permitting a low dark signal as required. The structures we have tested have a thin metal bias
electrode on the x-ray facing side of the a-Se which is deposited on the c-Si substrate. The heterostructures made with
pure a-Se deposited on epitaxial p-doped (5×10 14 cm-3) c-Si exhibited very low dark current of 15 pA cm-2 at a negative
bias field of 10 V μm-1 applied to the a-Se. The optical TOF (time of flight) measurements show that the applied bias
drops almost entirely across the a-Se layer and that the a-Se hole and electron mobilities are within the range of commonly
accepted values. The x-ray signal measurements demonstrate the structure has the expected x-ray quantum efficiency. We
have made a back-thinned CCD coated with a-Se and although most areas of the device show a poor x-ray response, it does
contain small regions which do work properly with the expected x-ray sensitivity. Improved understanding of the a-Se/c-Si
interface and preparation methods should lead to properly functioning devices.
Digital imaging systems for medical applications use amorphous silicon thin-film transistor (TFT) technology due to its
ability to be manufactured over large areas. However, TFT technology is far inferior to crystalline silicon CMOS
technology in terms of the speed, stability, noise susceptibility, and feature size. This work investigates the feasibility of
integrating an imaging array fabricated in CMOS technology with an a-Se detector. The design of a CMOS passive pixel
sensor (PPS) array is presented, in addition to how an 8×8 PPS array is integrated with the 75 micron thick stabilized
amorphous selenium detector. A non-linear increase in the dark current of 200 pA, 500 pA and 2 nA is observed with
0.27, 0.67 and 1.33 V/micron electric field respectively, which shows a successful integration of selenium layer with the
CMOS array. Results also show that the integrated Selenium-CMOS PPS array has good responsivity to optical light and
X-rays, leaving the door open for further research on implementing CMOS imaging architectures going forward.
Demonstrating that the PPS chips using CMOS technology can use a-Se as a detector is thus the first step in a promising
path of research, which should yield substantial and exciting results for the field. Though area may still prove
challenging, larger CMOS wafers can be manufactured and tiled to allow for a large enough size for certain diagnostic
imaging applications and potentially even large area applications like digital mammography.
Amorphous selenium (a-Se) has been widely used as a direct conversion X-ray detection material. Vertical structures are
employed in most cases, where >200 μm thick a-Se photoconductor layer is inserted between top and bottom electrodes.
In this paper, we design a lateral metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) structure in which a relatively thin layer of a-Se (~
8 μm) is coated on top of two lateral electrodes. The simulation results indicate that dark current of such a structure stays
extremely low level and external quantum efficiency (EQE) reaches over 30% with wavelengths ranging from 320 to
680 nm. We further fabricate the lateral MSM photoconductor by a two-mask photolithography process. The fabricated
photoconductor exhibits a dark current below 40 fA under electric fields ranging from 6 V/μm to 9 V/μm, a responsivity
up to 0.06 A/W, a measured EQE of 18% towards a short wavelength of 468 nm, and a high photoresponse speed at 500
Hz with a rise time of 250 μs, fall time of 350 μs, and time constant of 250 μs, respectively. Furthermore, an architecture
of indirect conversion X-ray imager is proposed with the use of such a lateral MSM structure and a blue-emitting
scintillator material atop.
We detail the integration of amorphous silicon (a-Si) active pixel sensor (APS) test arrays with an overlying amorphous
selenium (a-Se) x-ray photoconductor, and report on results of their x-ray response and imaging properties. The
a-Se/a-Si APS arrays incorporate a two-transistor (2T) gate-switched pixel amplifier architecture designed to provide high
detector array resolution, as well as a controllable on-pixel gain. The direct x-ray detectors consist of in-house
fabricated, dual mode active and passive sensor arrays with detector element (del) pitches of 100 μm and 200 μm, coated
with 80 μm thick stabilized amorphous selenium. These selenium layers were selected for preliminary work and
represent a quantum efficiency (QE) of 69% for x-ray spectra (tungsten target, 2 mm Al filtration) of 30 kVp. Detector
response was evaluated for a-Se biasing electric fields of both 5 V/μm and 10 V/μm.
A detector dark current of 110 pA/cm2 (0.01 pA/100 μm del) at 10V/μm electric field, a controllable detector conversion
gain up to 15.3 nA/mR at 30 kVp were measured. Active pixel gains of 6.7 and 9.6 were measured for 100μm and
200μm pitch detectors respectively. The amplified readout exhibits a better detection limit (by one order of magnitude)
compared to the passive readout implemented on the same pixel. Capabilities of amplified pixels such as nondestructive
readout, as well as programmable pixel conversion gain, and dynamic range control are demonstrated. In light of their
adaptable gain and dynamic range, these detectors represent a promising technology for high-resolution high gain x-ray
digital imaging, particularly in mammography tomosynthesis.
The dependence of the x-ray sensitivity of a-Se based x-ray image detectors on repeated x-ray exposures is studied by considering deep trapping of charge carriers, trapped charges due to previous exposures, trap filling effects, recombination between trapped and drifting carriers, x-ray induced new deep trap center generation, space charge effects, and electric field dependent electron-hole pair creation energy. We simultaneously solve the continuity equations for both holes and electrons, trapping rate equations, and the Poisson’s equation across the photoconductor for a pulse x-ray exposure by the finite difference method. We also perform Monte Carlo Simulations of carrier transports and obtain almost identical results. The change in relative sensitivity (ghosting) as a function of cumulative x-ray exposures for different levels of trapping and different detector operating conditions are examined. The relative sensitivity decreases with increasing cumulated x-ray exposure. The amount of ghosting in a-Se detectors increases with decreasing applied electric field. The sensitivity reduction at negative bias is greater than at positive bias. The theoretical model shows a very good agreement with the experimental relative sensitivity vs. cumulative x-ray exposure characteristics. The comparison of the model with the experimental data reveals that the recombination between trapped and the oppositely charged drifting carriers and x-ray induced new deep trap centers are mainly responsible for the sensitivity reduction in biased a-Se-based x-ray detectors.
A simple x-ray detector that utilizes amorphous selenium (a-Se) directly deposited on a specially-designed CCD (charge coupled device) with a 25 micrometer del (detector element) pitch is described. This simple detector has been used to test the feasibility of creating digital mammography detectors. To enable the use of electron transport CCDs with a-Se, we have developed a-Se hole blocking layers to permit the transfer of electrons to the CCD while suppressing hole leakage current in the presence of the high negative bias (~1000 V) required to make the a-Se x-ray sensitive. We report measurements of the charge transfer efficiency (CTE), dark signal, x-ray sensitivity, x-ray signal linearity, and x-ray MTF (modulation transfer function) of the simple detector. As the thickness of the a-Se hole blocking layer was increased, the MTF decreased. For a thin (1 micrometer) blocking layer the MTF at a spatial frequency of 20 cycles/mm was 0.4.
The dependence of the x-ray sensitivity of a-Se based x-ray image detectors on repeated x-ray exposures and exposure history is studied by considering deep trapping of charge carriers, trapped charges due to previous exposures, bimolecular recombination, space charge effects and electric field dependent electron-hole pair creation energy. We numerically solve the continuity equations of both holes and electrons, trapping rate equations, and the Poison equation across the photoconductor for long pulse x-ray exposures. The electric field distribution across the photoconductor and the relative x-ray sensitivity as a function of cumulated x-ray exposure have been studied for both mammographic and chest radiographic applications. The electric field distribution across the photoconductor has been found to vary widely for high exposures. The relative x-ray sensitivity decreases with increasing cumulated x-ray exposure and tents to saturate. The sensitivity reduction at negative bias is more pronounced than at positive bias.
Charge transport and trapping-limited sensitivity and signal spreading over neighboring pixels of a direct conversion pixellated x-ray image detector are calculated by using the final trapped charge distributions across the photoconductor and the weighting potential of the individual pixel. The analytical expressions for the final trapped charge distributions across the photoconductor are derived by analytically solving the continuity equation for both types of carriers (electrons and holes). We calculate collected charges at different pixels by considering square pixels arranged in a two dimensional array. We calculate the amount of collected charge per unit incident radiation, the x-ray sensitivity, in terms of normalized parameters; (a) the normalized absorption depth (= absorption depth/photoconductor thickness), (b) normalized electron schubweg (schubweg/thickness), (c) normalized hole schubweg, and (d) normalized pixel pitch (pixel size/thickness). The composite (finely sampled) line spread function (LSF) is calculated by calculating collected charges at different pixels and by considering diagnostic x-ray irradiation along a line. The modulation transfer function (MTF) due to distributed carrier trapping is calculated by taking Fourier transform of composite LSF and correcting for the square sampling aperture. The charge transport and trapping-limited sensitivity and resolution of pixellated x-ray detectors mostly depend on the mobility and lifetime product of charges that move towards the pixel electrodes and the extent of dependence increases with decreasing normalized pixel pitch. The polarity (negative or positive signal) and the quantity of induced signals in the surrounding pixels depend on the bias polarity and the rate of trapping of both types of carriers. Optimal sensitivity and resolution can be attained by ensuring that the carriers which drift towards the pixel electrodes have a schubweg much longer than the sample thickness.
The most widely used pixel architecture is a passive pixel sensor (PPS) where the pixel consists of a detector and an a-Si:H thin-film transistor readout switch. While the PPS has the advantage of being compact and amenable towards high-resolution imaging, the data line capacitance, resistance, and the column charge amplifiers add a large noise component to the PPS that reduces the minimum readable sensor input signal. Building upon previous research into active pixel sensor (APS) based amplified pixel readout circuits, this work investiates a current-mediated APS (C-APS) x-ray detection array for diagnostic medical imaging applications. Preliminary tests indicate linear performance, and a programmable circuits gain via choice of supply voltage and sampling time. In addition, the performance of C-APS amplified pixels is measured from both, a-Si TFT metastability and noise performance perspectives. Theory and measurements indicate that the C-APS pixel architecture is promising for diagnostic medical imaging modalities including low noise, real-time fluoroscopy.
We report measurements of conductance noise of a-Si1-xGex:H in two different geometries; one where the current flow is transverse to the surface and the other longitudinal to it. Because of the large increase in sample resistance in going from transverse to longitudinal conduction, it was not possible to measure both geometries at the same temperature. However, the temperature trends are compatible with a common noise source. For both geometries, alloying with up to 40% Ge reduces the noise magnitude by a factor of 50 over that found in a-Si:H.
The effects of charge carrier trapping (i.e. incomplete charge collection) on the detective quantum efficiency (DQE) of a photoconductive detector are studied by using a cascaded linear system model. The model includes signal and noise propagations in the following stages: (1) x-ray attenuation, (2) conversion gain, (3) charge collection, (4) the addition of electronic noise. We examine the DQE(0) of a-Se for fluoroscopy application as a function of photoconductor thickness with varying amounts of electronic noise under (a) constant field, and (b) constant voltage operating conditions. We show that there is an optimum photoconductor thickness, which maximizes the DQE(0) under a constant voltage operation. The optimum thickness depends on the added electronic noise, x-ray exposure, bias voltage and polarity. The actual broad x-ray spectrum emitted from a typical x-ray tube is used in the calculation. The DQE for the negative bias is significantly lower than that of the positive bias, and the diversity in DQE, as expected, increases with the photoconductor thickness because of the asymmetric transport properties of holes and electrons in a-Se. The present results show that the DQE generally does not continue to improve with greater photoconductor thickness in the presence of added electronic noise because of charge transport and trapping effects.
A large area, flat panel solid state detector is being investigated for both digital radiography and fluoroscopy. The detector employs amorphous selenium (a-Se) to detect x- rays. The charge image formed on the surface of the a-Se is read out in situ using an active matrix array. A theoretical analysis of the spatial frequency dependent detective quantum efficiency (DQE) is performed. Because of the very high intrinsic resolution of a-Se, the detector is inherently undersampled and aliasing is always present. An interpretation of DQE(f) for the undersampled a-Se detector will be given. The analysis shows that the main factors, besides the quantum efficiency of the a-Se layer, affecting DQE(f) are: (1) aliasing; (2) gain fluctuation noise of a- Se, i.e., the Swank factor of a-Se; (3) electronic noise which prevents quantum noise limited operation at low exposure levels such as those used in fluoroscopy and (4) temporal response which causes a reduction in noise by averaging. The validity of the theoretical model was confirmed experimentally using our prototype detector with the Swank factor being established using pulse height spectroscopy. The model was then applied to three important x-ray imaging applications: mammography, chest radiography and fluoroscopy. The results show that the most important strategy for maximizing DQE(f) is to increase the pixel fill factor which can be unity using specialized techniques Methods for reducing aliasing in the detector will be described.
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