Alexander Ulrich Douglas

X-Ray Detector-on-Plastic With High Sensitivity Using Low Cost, Solution-Processed Organic Photodiodes

We made and characterized an X-ray detector on a 25-μm-thick plastic substrate that is capable of medicalgrade performance. As an indirect conversion flat panel detector, it combined a standard scintillator with an organic photodetector (OPD) layer and oxide thin-film transistor backplane. Using solution-processed organic bulk heterojunction photodiode rather than the usual amorphous silicon, process temperature is reduced to be compatible with plastic film substrates, and a number of costly lithography steps are eliminated, opening the door to lower production costs. With dark currents as low as 1 pA/mm2 and sensitivity of 0.2 A/W the OPD also meets functional requirements: the proof-of-concept detector delivers high-resolution, dynamic images at 10 frames/s, and 200 pixels/in using X-ray doses as low as 3 μGy/frame.

Linking Requirements and Implementation

During system creation, many aspects of the system are contemplated by architects and designers. Choices regarding the design are made. These choices effect the architecture and implementation of the system. During the design phase, many people involved are aware of the choices made, and information flows freely from person to person. In literature it is reported, and confirmed by our observations, that the information known to everyone during the design phase is not always consolidated into documentation. This can result in links between requirements and implementation being lost over time. When evolving a system, the links between requirements and the actual implementation of the system become crucial in determining the impact of a change, and for estimating the resources required for making that change. In this chapter we show that linking requirements and implementation can be done with little additional effort during the design phase. This ensures that relevant design decisions are documented, and thereby prevents relevant design decision from being lost over time.

X-ray imaging sensor arrays on foil using solution processed organic photodiodes and organic transistors

We demonstrate organic imaging sensor arrays fabricated on flexible plastic foil with the solution processing route for both photodiodes and thin film transistors. We used the photovoltaic P3HT:PCBM blend for fabricating the photodiodes using spin coating and pentacene as semiconductor material for the TFTs. Photodiodes fabricated with P3HT:PCBM absorb in the green part of the visible spectrum which matches with the typical scintillator output wavelength. The arrays consist of 32x32 pixels with variation in pixel resolution of 200μmx200μm, 300μmx300μm and of 1mmx1mm. The accurate reproducibility of shadow images of the objects demonstrates the potential of these arrays for imaging purposes. We also demonstrate that the crosstalk is relatively insignificant despite the fact that the active photodiode forms a continuous layer in the array. Since both photodiodes and TFTs are made of organic material, they are processed at low temperatures below 150°C on foil which means that these imaging sensors can be flexible, light weight and low cost when compared to conventional amorphous silicon based imaging sensors on rigid substrates. In combination with a scintillator on top of the arrays, we show the potential of these arrays for the X-ray imaging applications.

High performance x-ray imaging detectors on foil using solution-processed organic photodiodes with extremely low dark leakage current (Presentation Recording)

High performance X-ray imaging detectors on foil using solution-processed organic photodiodes with extremely low dark leakage current Abhishek Kumara, Date Moeta, Albert van Breemena, Santhosh Shanmugama, Jan-Laurens van der Steena, Jan Gilota, Ronn Andriessena, Matthias Simonb, Walter Ruettenb, Alexander U. Douglasb, Rob Raaijmakersc, Pawel E. Malinowskid, Kris Mynyd and Gerwin H. Gelincka,e a. Holst Centre/TNO, High Tech Campus 31, Eindhoven 5656 AE, The Netherlands b. Philips Research, High Tech Campus 34, 5656 AE Eindhoven, The Netherlands c. Philips Healthcare, Veenpluis 6-8, 5684 PC Best, The Netherlands d. Department of Large Area Electronics, imec vzw, Kapeldreef 75, Leuven B3001, Belgium e. Applied Physics Department, TU Eindhoven, Eindhoven, The Netherlands We demonstrate high performance X-ray imaging detectors on foil suitable for medical grade X-ray imaging applications. The detectors are based on solution-processed organic photodiodes forming bulk-heterojunctions from photovoltaic donor and acceptor blend. The organic photodiodes are deposited using an industrially compatible slot die coating technique with end of line processing temperature below 100°C. These photodiodes have extremely low dark leakage current density of 10-7 mA/cm2 at -2V bias with very high yield and have peak absorption around 550 nm wavelength. We combine these organic photodiodes with high mobility metal oxide semiconductor based thin film transistor arrays with high pixel resolution of 200ppi on thin plastic substrate. When combined with a typical CsI(TI) scintillator material on top, they are well suited for low dose X-ray imaging applications. The optical crosstalk is insignificant upto resolution of 200 ppi despite the fact that the photodiode layer is one continuous layer and is non-pixelated. Low processing temperatures are another key advantage since they can be fabricated on plastic substrate. This implies that we can make X-ray detectors on flexible foil. Those detectors can be mechanically more robust and light weight when compared to amorphous Si based detectors fabricated on glass substrate.