X-ray image sensor
US5528043A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 21, 1995 |
| Grant date | Jun 18, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 21, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61B6/4035
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
This invention provides an imaging system for producing images from electromagnetic radiation such as x-rays. The system includes a detector comprised of a radiation-absorbing layer sandwiched between an array of CMOS integrated circuits (which we call pixel circuits) and a surface electrode layer transparent to the radiation. Each of the pixel circuits in the array has a charge collecting electrode. An external voltage applied between the surface electrode layer and the charge collecting electrodes produces an electric field across the thickness of the absorbing layer. Radiation passing through the transparent surface electrode layer is absorbed in the absorbing layer creating electron/hole pairs in the absorbing layer. A portion of the liberated holes (or electrons) migrates under the influence of the electric field toward the charge collecting electrodes, which collect the holes and store them as charges on small capacitors located within each circuit. This process results in a discrete distribution of stored voltages across the array proportional to the distribution of radiation photons incident on the absorbing layer. Circuitry in each pixel provides for the voltage on each pi…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.