Breakdown performance of guard ring designs for pixel detectors in 150 nm CMOS technology

Abstract

Silicon pixel sensors manufactured using commercial CMOS processes are promising instruments for high-energy particle physics experiments due to their high yield and proven radiation hardness. As one of the essential factors for the operation of detectors, the breakdown performance of pixel sensors constitutes the upper limit of the operating voltage. Six types of passive CMOS test structures were fabricated on high-resistivity wafers. Each of them features a combination of different inter-pixel designs and sets of floating guard rings, which differ from each other in the geometrical layout, implantation type, and overhang structure. A comparative study based on leakage current measurements in the sensor substrate of unirradiated samples was carried out to identify correlations between guard ring designs and breakdown voltages. TCAD simulations using the design parameters of the test structures were performed to discuss the observations and, together with the measurements, ultimately provide design features targeting higher breakdown voltages.