An a-Si Active Pixel Sensor (APS) Array for Medical X-ray Imaging

Active pixel sensor (APS) circuits are an alternate to passive pixel sensor (PPS) circuits, which, while common in CMOS technology, have yet to be incorporated into commercial amorphous silicon (a-Si) large-area imagers. A proof-of-concept 64 × 64 APS array for low-exposure medical X-ray imaging is fabricated in a-Si technology and mated with an amorphous selenium photoconductor. Modulation transfer function (MTF) response and transient response for the APS imager indicate significant charge trapping at the top insulator/a-Se interface. MTF response indicates an effective fill factor of 94.5 % for a geometric fill factor of 57% at an electric field strength of 10 V/μm. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) performance from the prototype imager is comparable to a state-of-the-art commercially available a-Si PPS X-ray imager for X-ray exposures down to 1.5 μR using an RQA5 standard fluoroscopic characterization beam. Pixel design and fabrication process improvements are suggested to improve the SNR performance of the APS imager below 1.5 μR.