Radiation hardness of a large area CMOS active pixel sensor for bio-medical applications

A wafer scale CMOS Active Pixel Sensor has been designed employing design techniques of transistor enclosed geometry and P+ doped guard rings to offer ionizing radiation tolerance. The detector was irradiated with 160 kVp X-rays up to a total dose of 94 kGy(Si) and remained functional. The radiation damage produced in the device has been studied, resulting in a dark current density increase per decade of 96±S pA/cm²/decade and a damage threshold of 204 Gy(Si). The damage produced in the detector has been compared with a commercially available CMOS APS, showing a radiation tolerance about 100 times higher. Moreover Monte Carlo simulations have been performed to evaluate primary and secondary energy deposition in each of the detector stages.