Quantum efficiency measurement of n–i–p a-Si:H photodiode array on CMOS circuit for positron emission tomography (PET)

Detection of scintillation light from LSO (Lutetiumoxyorthosilicate) crystals used in positron emission tomography (PET) is traditionally based on photo- multipliers. The proposal is to develop a novel photo- sensor, which is based on vertically integrating an hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) film on a pixel readout chip. The a-Si:H film is deposited with a n-i-p diode structure. The ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) performs both signal amplification and readout processing. The advantage of such an approach is the extremely compact and low-cost design, together with ultra- low noise signal retrieval. In addition the a-Si:H offers the technological advantage of direct deposition on the wafer thanks to the low deposition temperature. The article presents the results of quantum efficiency measured on different types of a-Si:H photodiodes deposited on glass (DC measurement) and CMOS circuit (AC measurement). Quantum Efficiency (QE) up to 80% has been measured at the wavelength of interest for the optimized photodiodes. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.