Luc Laperriere

Amorphous and Polycrystalline Photoconductors for Direct Conversion Flat Panel X-Ray Image Sensors

In the last ten to fifteen years there has been much research in using amorphous and polycrystalline semiconductors as x-ray photoconductors in various x-ray image sensor applications, most notably in flat panel x-ray imagers (FPXIs). We first outline the essential requirements for an ideal large area photoconductor for use in a FPXI, and discuss how some of the current amorphous and polycrystalline semiconductors fulfill these requirements. At present, only stabilized amorphous selenium (doped and alloyed a-Se) has been commercialized, and FPXIs based on a-Se are particularly suitable for mammography, operating at the ideal limit of high detective quantum efficiency (DQE). Further, these FPXIs can also be used in real-time, and have already been used in such applications as tomosynthesis. We discuss some of the important attributes of amorphous and polycrystalline x-ray photoconductors such as their large area deposition ability, charge collection efficiency, x-ray sensitivity, DQE, modulation transfer function (MTF) and the importance of the dark current. We show the importance of charge trapping in limiting not only the sensitivity but also the resolution of these detectors. Limitations on the maximum acceptable dark current and the corresponding charge collection efficiency jointly impose a practical constraint that many photoconductors fail to satisfy. We discuss the case of a-Se in which the dark current was brought down by three orders of magnitude by the use of special blocking layers to satisfy the dark current constraint. There are also a number of polycrystalline photoconductors, HgI2 and PbO being good examples, that show potential for commercialization in the same way that multilayer stabilized a-Se x-ray photoconductors were developed for commercial applications. We highlight the unique nature of avalanche multiplication in a-Se and how it has led to the development of the commercial HARP video-tube. An all solid state version of the HARP has been recently demonstrated with excellent avalanche gains; the latter is expected to lead to a number of novel imaging device applications that would be quantum noise limited. While passive pixel sensors use one TFT (thin film transistor) as a switch at the pixel, active pixel sensors (APSs) have two or more transistors and provide gain at the pixel level. The advantages of APS based x-ray imagers are also discussed with examples.

Direct conversion detector for digital mammography

In this paper, we report measurements from a prototype 1024 X 1024 selenium-based flat panel detector suited for interventional digital mammography applications. This detector is based on an amorphous silicon TFT array, with a pixel pitch of 85 micrometer and a fill factor of 70%. A 200 micrometer layer of amorphous selenium is used to directly convert the incident x-rays into electrical charges. The detector electronics, TFT array, and selenium converter structure are designed to operate at a frame rate of 10 images per second. Experimentally, this detector yields an x-ray sensitivity of nearly 290 electrons/absorbed x-ray nearly 100% absorption of x-rays at a beam energy of 18 keV, a high spatial resolution (limited only by the pixel pitch up to the Nyquist limit), and quantum-noise limited operation down to the lowest exposures currently investigated. Images from the ACR phantom and contrast detail phantom reveal all embedded targets in the phantoms, which indicates the potential of this technology for digital mammography.

Progress report on the performance of real-time selenium flat-panel detectors for direct x-ray imaging

Real time flat panel detectors based on amorphous selenium (a-Se) have demonstrated to be the most advanced technology for direct conversion X-ray imaging in various medical applications. In continuation of real time detector development, ANRAD Corporation introduce in this paper a large size 14 inches X 14 inches active area detector built with an amorphous selenium (a-Se) converter coated on a TFT array. This new detector is a scaled up version of the 9 inches X 9 inches presented last year based on a TFT array with 150 um x 150 um pixel and a 1000 mm thick a-Se PIN structure operated at 10V/um. DQE(f=0) measurements were performed in low dose range and demonstrated to be in agreement with a linear model including 2500e of electronic noise. It is also shown that the spatial resolution (MTF) could be controlled by selenium coating process and can almost reach the theoretical limit defined by the pixel pitch. Finally, the first 14 inches X 14 inches chest image is presented.

Dark current in multilayer stabilized amorphous selenium based photoconductive x-ray detectors

We report on experimental results which show that the dark current in n-i-p structured, amorphous selenium films is independent of i-layer thickness in samples with consistently thick blocking layers. We have observed, however, a strong dependence on the n-layer thickness and positive contact metal chosen. These results indicate that the dominant source of the dark current is carrier injection from the contacts and any contribution from carriers thermally generated in the bulk of the photoconductive layer is negligible. This conclusion is supported by a description of the dark current transients at different applied fields by a model which assumes only carrier emission over a Schottky barrier. This model also predicts that while hole injection is initially dominant, some time after the application of the bias, electron injection may become the dominant source of dark current.

Spatial and temporal image characteristics of a real-time large area a-Se x-ray detector

Large area, real-time, amorphous selenium (a-Se) based Flat Panel Detectors (FPD) were recently equipped with low noise front end electronics. In full resolution, 14”x14” detectors (FPD14) and 9”x9” detectors (FPD9) show an electronic noise of 1400 electrons. To evaluate the positive impact of such low noise on image quality, a dedicated report on spatial characteristics (MTF, NPS and DQE) covering the low dose range from 0.6 μR to 12 μR per frame, will be presented in the first section of this paper. For one RQA5 beam quality, DQE corrected for lag extrapolated at zero spatial frequency was equal to 0.6 for quantum noise limited exposure and equal to 0.4 for 0.6 μR. Almost no difference was found between 1x1 and 2x2 resolution mode giving the opportunity to 1x1 fluoroscopy. Recent advances to reduce image temporal artifacts such as lag and ghost will make the second part of this paper. It is demonstrated that the most significant contribution to detector lag is coming from the PIN selenium structure. Above electric field of 10 V/μm charges release from traps following one x-ray exposure could not explain selenium lag. Active ghost correction based on deep trapped charge recombination was developed giving good preliminary results in showing no residual ghost for a high dose rate of 33 mR/min.

Imaging performance of an amorphous selenium flat-panel detector for digital fluoroscopy

The imaging performance of a 34.5 x 34.5 cm2 direct conversion flat-panel detector with a 1 mm thick amorphous selenium layer was measured over the fluoroscopic exposure range (0.56 - 10.8 μR/frame). The pixels measured 300 x 300 μm. Measurements of the modulation transfer function (MTF), the noise power spectrum (NPS), and the detective quantum efficiency (DQE) were made. By comparing the MTF to the sinc function the measured effective fill factor of the active matrix was determined to be almost 100%. The electronic noise of the active matrix was measured and found to be 3800 electrons. The DQE(f) was found to be better than the expected sinc2 function. This was due to the presence of a pre-sampling blur identified as charge trapping at an interface in the a-Se layers. At the highest exposure investigated, the DQE(0) was found to be less than the quantum efficiency and the difference was ascribed to a combination of the electronic noise, a small drop in sensitivity due to the charge trapping blur, and incomplete charge collection.

New cesium iodide-selenium x-ray detector structure for digital radiography and fluoroscopy

Though most objections to the use of selenium are largely unfounded (lag and ghosting effects, low DQE), the high bias voltage associated with the thick layer of selenium required to have an acceptable x-ray absorption in radiography and fluoroscopy applications, may have some practical inconvenience. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the pertinence of a solution using a thin coplanar selenium layer, as a photosensitive converter requiring only a few tens of volts of bias, associated with a thick columnar coating of sodium doped cesium iodide scintillator. It will be shown that CsI(Na) can be evaporated with a very uniform needle-like morphology on amorphous selenium structures, the later showing no evidence of thermal recrystallization. Photoluminescence characterization of this scintillator material shows a light emission peak centered at 420 nm as expected, which matches the sensitivity spectrum of selenium. Preliminary sensitivity measurements give a signal in the range of 2000 pC/cm2/mR for 400 (mu) -CsI, with no reflector present. The thin selenium layers deposited display low dark currents of less than 130 pA/cm2 at an electric field of 10 volts per micron. Work in progress will be presented including the scintillator (x- ray absorption, sensitivity and emission), the thin selenium photosensor as well as the coupled structure characteristics.

A-Se Flat Panel Detectors for Medical Applications

Flat panel detector (FPD) technology for X-ray detection and imaging advanced rapidly in the last decade fueled by continuous improvements in large area, amorphous silicon (a-Si) thin film transistors (TFT) arrays and innovations in deposition techniques for scintillators and photoconductors. Amorphous selenium (a-Se) is a direct X-ray to charge converter material whose properties as photoconductor as well as semiconductor make it suitable for both static and dynamic imaging. In this paper we will present a series of a-Se based X-ray detectors, will characterize their defining parameters and will describe the most recent advances in materials and low noise application specific integrated circuits (ASIC) conducive to their superior performance in real-time imaging applications.

Reduced photocurrent lag using unipolar solid-state photoconductive detector structures: Application to stabilized n-i-p amorphous selenium

Memory effects in direct detection solid-state photoconductors are attributed to interrupted charge transport by traps in the bulk and result in persistent photocurrent lag and ghosting. The identified sources for image lag following the cessation of x-ray exposure are the inhomogeneous electric field’s spatial distribution and the detrapping of the bulk space charge. This work shows that the latter is the dominant mechanism for the persistent photocurrent lag in stabilized n-i-p amorphous selenium photoconductors and proposes unipolar charge-sensing detector design for reducing image lag and improving the temporal performance of direct conversion x-ray imagers.

Amorphous selenium detector utilizing a Frisch grid for photon-counting imaging applications

Incomplete charge collection due to poor electron mobility in amorphous selenium (a-Se) results in depth-dependent signal variations. The slow signal rise-time for the portion of the induced charge due to electron-movement towards the anode and significant electron trapping cause ballistic deficit. In this paper, we investigate Frisch-grid detector design to reduce the depth dependent noise, increase the photon count-rate, and improve the spectral performance of positively biased amorphous selenium radiation detectors. In addition, we analyze the impact of using the Frisch grid detector design on x-ray sensitivity, detective quantum efficiency (DQE), modulation transfer function (MTF), and image lag of integrating-mode a-Se radiation detectors. Preliminary results based on theory are presented for emerging digital medical imaging modalities such as mammography tomosynthesis and fluoroscopy.