Characterisation of CMOS APS Technologies for Space Applications

In recent years, the performance of scientific CMOS active pixel sensors has been improved to the point that it is now approaching that of the current silicon sensor of choice, CCDs. For some applications, CMOS APSs is believed to present significant advantages over CCDs, such as improved radiation hardness. In this work, the effect of radiation damage on a ‘baseline’ commercial APS, e2v technologies’ Jade APS, is characterised in response to gamma, proton and heavy ion irradiation. Specific performance problems encountered during this radiation characterisation, such as dark current non-uniformity under gamma irradiation, random telegraph signals under proton irradiation, and single event effects under heavy ion irradiation are described and analyzed. The X-ray spectroscopic imaging performance of the device is measured and compared to the Ocean Colour Imager APS test array showing progress towards a high frame rate spectroscopic X-ray imager for space science. The implications of these results for using similar devices in space applications are considered. Furthermore, possible novel techniques for measuring inter-pixel responsivity non-uniformity, heavy ion detection and spectroscopy, and measuring the dynamics of radiation-induced trap formation are discussed.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

phd

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

The Open University

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Dryer, Ben

Language dc:language

en