A high pixel density intraoral x-ray imaging sensor includes a direct conversion, fully depleted silicon detector bump bonded to a readout CMOS substrate by cu-pillar bump bonds.

According to an embodiment, a device comprises a direct conversion compound semiconductor layer configured to convert high energy radiation photons into an electric current, the direct conversion compound semiconductor layer comprising: a pixel array positioned in the direct conversion compound semiconductor layer, including pixels located at an outermost circumference, wherein the pixels comprise signal pads; a guard ring encircling the pixel array, wherein the pixels at the outermost circumference are closest to the guard ring; guard ring contact pads, wherein the guard ring contact pads are situated in place of some of the pixel signal pads at the outermost circumference and connected to the guard ring; wherein the guard ring contact pads are further situated asymmetrically with respect to a symmetry x-axis and a symmetry y-axis of the direct conversion compound semiconductor layer. Other embodiments relates to a detector comprising an array of tiles according to the device, and an imaging system comprising: an x-ray source and the detector.

Described herein are photon counting devices comprising direct mode detectors with improved signal to noise ratios which are suitable for use in X-ray imaging devices, and other imaging devices.

Described herein are semiconductor materials suitable for direct conversion of ionizing radiation to electron hole pairs. The material described herein have improved high-flux photon counting performance and lower photocurrent leakage compared to typically used semiconductors.

A scanning electron microscope incorporates a multi-pixel solid-state electron detector. The multi-pixel solid-state detector may detect back-scattered and/or secondary electrons. The multi-pixel solid-state detector may incorporate analog-to-digital converters and other circuits. The multi-pixel solid state detector may be capable of approximately determining the energy of incident electrons and/or may contain circuits for processing or analyzing the electron signals. The multi-pixel solid state detector is suitable for high-speed operation such as at a speed of about 100 MHz or higher. The scanning electron microscope may be used for reviewing, inspecting or measuring a sample such as unpatterned semiconductor wafer, a patterned semiconductor wafer, a reticle or a photomask. A method of reviewing or inspecting a sample is also described.

Monolithic pixel detectors, systems and methods for the detection and imaging of electromagnetic radiation with high spectral and spatial resolution comprise a Si wafer with a CMOS processed pixel readout bonded to an absorber wafer in wafer bonds comprising conducting bonds between doped, highly conducting charge collectors in the readout and highly conducting regions in the absorber wafer and poorly conducting bonds between regions of high resistivity.

Disclosed herein is an apparatus suitable for detecting x-ray, comprising: an X-ray absorption layer configured to generate an electrical signal from an X-ray photon incident on the X-ray absorption layer; an electronics layer comprising an electronics system configured to process or interpret the electrical signal; wherein at least one of the X-ray absorption layer and the electronics layer is embedded in a board of an electrically insulating material.

An image sensor includes a multitude of photodiodes and analog-to-digital converters disposed in adjacent first and second portions of a semiconductor substrate. The photodiodes exhibit X-ray radiation tolerance. An arrangement of several image sensors in adjacent rows can be used for an X-ray detector in a computed tomography apparatus.

Disclosed herein is a detector having a pixel in a substrate and configured to detect radiation particles incident thereon; a first guard ring in the substrate, surrounding the pixel, and comprising a first doped semiconductor region in the substrate and a first electrically conductive layer in electrical contact to the first doped semiconductor region; a second guard ring in the substrate, surrounding the first guard ring, and comprising a second doped semiconductor region in the substrate and a second electrically conductive layer in electrical contact to the second doped semiconductor region. The first electrically conductive layer overhangs the first doped semiconductor region toward an interior of the first guard ring by a greater extent than the second electrically conductive layer overhangs the second doped semiconductor region toward an interior of the second guard ring.

A method for radiation dosage measurement includes: (1) exposing a plurality of single-poly floating gate sensor cells to radiation; (2) measuring threshold voltage differences between logical pairs of the exposed sensor cells using differential read operations, wherein the sensor cells of each logical pair are separated by a distance large enough that radiation impinging on one of the sensor cells does not influence the other sensor cell; (3) determining whether each logical pair of exposed sensor cells is influenced by exposure to the radiation in response to the corresponding measured threshold voltage difference; and (4) determining a dosage of the radiation in response to the number of logical pairs of the exposed sensor cells determined to be influenced by exposure to the radiation. A non-radiation influenced threshold voltage shift may be measured and used in determining whether each logical pair of exposed sensor cells is influenced by radiation exposure.