Kavli Affiliate: Richard Foster
| First 5 Authors: Tanmoy Chattopadhyay, Sven Herrmann, Peter Orel, R. G. Morris, Daniel R. Wilkins
| Summary:
Single electron Sensitive Read Out (SiSeRO) is a novel on-chip charge
detector output stage for charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensors. Developed
at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, this technology uses a p-MOSFET transistor with a
depleted internal gate beneath the transistor channel. The transistor
source-drain current is modulated by the transfer of charge into the internal
gate. At Stanford, we have developed a readout module based on the drain
current of the on-chip transistor to characterize the device. Characterization
was performed for a number of prototype sensors with different device
architectures, e.g. location of the internal gate, MOSFET polysilicon gate
structure, and location of the trough in the internal gate with respect to the
source and drain of the MOSFET (the trough is introduced to confine the charge
in the internal gate). Using a buried-channel SiSeRO, we have achieved a
charge/current conversion gain of >700 pA per electron, an equivalent noise
charge (ENC) of around 6 electrons root mean square (RMS), and a full width
half maximum (FWHM) of approximately 140 eV at 5.9 keV at a readout speed of
625 Kpixel/s. In this paper, we discuss the SiSeRO working principle, the
readout module developed at Stanford, and the characterization test results of
the SiSeRO prototypes. We also discuss the potential to implement Repetitive
Non-Destructive Readout (RNDR) with these devices and the preliminary results
which can in principle yield sub-electron ENC performance. Additional
measurements and detailed device simulations will be essential to mature the
SiSeRO technology. However, this new device class presents an exciting
technology for next generation astronomical X-ray telescopes requiring fast,
low-noise, radiation hard megapixel imagers with moderate spectroscopic
resolution.
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