Degradation and annealing studies on gamma rays irradiated COTS PPD CISs at different dose rates

Abstract

The degradation and annealing studies on Colbalt-60 gamma-rays irradiated commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) pinned photodiode (PPD) CMOS image sensors (CISs) at the various dose rates are presented. The irradiation experiments of COTS PPD CISs are carried out at 0.3, 3.0 and 30.0rad(Si)/s. The COTS PPD CISs are manufactured using a standard 0.18-μm CMOS technology with four-transistor pixel PPD architecture. The behavior of the tested CISs shows a remarkable degradation after irradiation and differs in the dose rates. The dark current, dark signal non-uniformity (DSNU), random noise, saturation output, signal to noise ratio (SNR), and dynamic range (DR) versus the total ionizing dose (TID) at the various dose rates are investigated. The tendency of dark current, DSNU, and random noise increase and saturation output, SNR, and DR to decrease at 3.0rad(Si)/s are far greater than those at 0.3 and 30.0rad(Si)/s. The damage mechanisms caused by TID irradiation at the various dose rates are also analyzed. The annealing tests are carried out at room temperature with unbiased conditions after irradiation.