High-voltage-compatable, fully depleted CCDs

Abstract

We describe charge-coupled device (CCD) development activities at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). Back-illuminated CCDs fabricated on 200-300 μm thick, fully depleted, high-resistivity silicon substrates are produced in partnership with a commercial CCD foundry. The CCDs are fully depleted by the application of a substrate bias voltage. Spatial resolution considerations require operation of thick, fully depleted CCDs at high substrate bias voltages. We have developed CCDs that are compatible with substrate bias voltages of at least 200V. This improves spatial resolution for a given thickness, and allows for full depletion of thicker CCDs than previously considered. We have demonstrated full depletion of 650-675 μm thick CCDs, with potential applications in direct x-ray detection. In this work we discuss the issues related to high-voltage operation of fully depleted CCDs, as well as experimental results on high-voltage-compatible CCDs.