Soft x-ray quantum efficiency of silicon hybrid CMOS detectors

Abstract

Si Hybrid CMOS detectors (HCDs) are sensitive to X-rays between approximately 0.2 – 20 keV. HCDs can provide superior performance to traditional CCDs in multiple areas: faster read out time, windowed read out mode, less susceptible to radiation & micrometeoroid damage, and lower power consumption. X-ray detectors designed for use in astronomical observatories must have an optical blocking filter to prevent the detectors from being saturated by optical light. We have previously reported on the successful deposition of an Al optical blocking layer directly onto the surface of HCDs. These blocking filters were deposited with multiple thicknesses from 180 – 1000 Å and successfully block optical light at all thicknesses, with minimal impact expected on quantum efficiency at the energies of interest for these detectors. The thin Al layer is not expected to impact quantum efficiency at the energies of interest for these detectors. We report energy dependent soft X-ray quantum efficiency measurements for multiple HCDs with different optical blocking filter thicknesses.