Delta-doped CCD's as low-energy particle detectors and imagers

US6403963B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · US

Inventors

• Shouleh Nikzad · Valencia, US
• Michael E. Hoenk · Pasadena, US
• Michael H. Hecht · Los Angeles, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Sep 29, 1998
• Grant date: Jun 11, 2002
• Expiry date: Sep 29, 2018

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H10F30/29

Abstract

The back surface of a thinned charged-coupled device (CCD) is treated to eliminate the backside potential well that appears in a conventional thinned CCD during backside illumination. The backside of the CCD includes a delta layer of high-concentration dopant confined to less than one monolayer of the crystal semiconductor. The thinned, delta-doped CCD is used to detect very low-energy particles that penetrate less than 1.0 nm into the CCD, including electrons having energies less than 1000 eV and protons having energies less than 10 keV.