High spatial resolution radiation detectors based on hydrogenated amorphous silicon and scintillator

摘要

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) as a large-area thin film semiconductor with ease of doping and low-cost fabrication capability has given a new impetus to the field of imaging sensors; its high radiation resistance also makes it a good material for radiation detectors. In addition, large-area microelectronics based on a-Si:H or polysilicon can be made with full integration of peripheral circuits, including readout switches and shift registers on the same substrate. Thin a-Si:H p-i-n photodiodes coupled to suitable scintillators are shown to be suitable for detecting charged particles, electrons, and X-rays. The response speed of CsI/a-Si:H diode combinations to individual particulate radiation is limited by the scintillation light decay since the charge collection time of the diode is very short (< 10ns). The reverse current of the detector is analyzed in term of contact injection, thermal generation, field enhanced emission (Poole-Frenkel effect), and edge leakage. A good collection efficiency for a diode is obtained by optimizing the p layer of the diode thickness and composition. The CsI(Tl) scintillator coupled to an a-Si:H photodiode detector shows a capability for detecting minimum ionizing particles with S/N (approximately)20. In such an arrangement a p-i-n diode is operated in a photovoltaic mode (reverse bias). In addition, a p-i-n diode can also work as a photoconductor under forward bias and produces a gain yield of 3--8 for shaping times of 1 (micro)s. The mechanism of the formation of structured CsI scintillator layers is analyzed. Initial nucleation in the deposited layer is sensitive to the type of substrate medium, with imperfections generally catalyzing nucleation. Therefore, the microgeometry of a patterned substrate has a significant effect on the structure of the CsI growth.