Organic X-Ray Image Sensors Using a Medium Bandgap Polymer Donor with Low Dark Current

The development of portable X-ray detectors is necessary for diagnosing fractures in unconscious patients in emergency situations.However,this is quite challenging because of the heavy weight of the scintillator and silicon photodetectors.The weight and thickness of X-ray detectors can be reduced by replacing the silicon layer with an organic photodetectors.This study presents a novel bithienopyrroledione-based polymer donor that exhibits excellent photodetection properties even in a thick photoactive layer(~700 nm),owing to the symmetric backbone and highly soluble molecular structure of bithienopyrroledione.The ability of bithienopyrroledione-based polymer donor to strongly suppress the dark current density(Jd~10−10 A cm^(−2))at a negative bias(−2.0 V)while maintaining high responsivity(R=0.29 A W−1)even at a thickness of 700 nm results in a maximum shot-noise-limited specific detectivity of D_(sh)^(*)=2.18×10^(13)Jones in the organic photodetectors.Printed organic photodetectors are developed by slot-die coating for use in X-ray detectors,which exhibit D_(sh)^(*)=2.73×10^(12)Jones with clear rising(0.26 s)and falling(0.29 s)response times upon X-ray irradiation.Detection reliability is also proven by linear response of the X-ray detector,and the X-ray detection limit is 3 mA.

Strain-induced the dark current characteristics in InAs/GaSb type-Ⅱ superlattice for mid-wave detector

Type-Ⅱsuperlattice(T2SL)materials are the key element for infrared(IR)detectors.However,it is well known that the characteristics of the detectors with the T2SL layer are greatly affected by the strain developed during the growth process,which determines the performance of IR detectors.Therefore,great efforts have been made to properly control the strain effect and develop relevant analysis methods to evaluate the strain-induced dark current characteristics.In this work,we report the strain-induced dark current characteristics in InAs/GaSb T2SL MWIR photodetector.The overall strain of InAs/GaSb T2SL layer was analyzed by both high-resolution X-ray diffraction(HRXRD)and the dark current measured from the absorber layer at the elevated temperatures(≥110 K),where the major leakage current component is originated from the reduced minority carrier lifetime in the absorber layer.Our findings indicate that minority carrier lifetime increases as the tensile strain on the InAs/GaSb T2SL is more compensated by the compressive strain through‘InSb-like’interface,which reduces the dark current density of the device.Specifically,tensile strain compensated devices exhibited the dark current density of less than 2×10^-5 A/cm^2 at 120 K,which is more than one order of magnitude lower value compared to that of the device without tensile strain relaxation.

Scalability of dark current in silicon PIN photodiode

The mechanism for electrical conduction is investigated by the dark temperature-dependent current–voltage characteristics of Si PIN photodiodes with different photosensitive areas.The characteristic tunneling energy E（00） can be obtained to be 1.40 me V,1.53 me V,1.74 me V,1.87 me V,and 2.01 me V,respectively,for the photodiodes with L = 0.25 mm,0.5 mm,1 mm,1.5 mm,and 2 mm by fitting the ideality factor n versus temperature curves according to the tunneling-enhanced recombination mechanism.The trap-assisted tunneling-enhanced recombination in the i-layer plays an important role in our device,which is consistent with the experimental result that area-dependent leakage current is dominant with the side length larger than 1 mm of the photosensitive area.Our results reveal that the quality of the bulk material plays an important role in the electrical conduction mechanism of the devices with the side length larger than 1 mm of the photosensitive area.

NEW DARK CURRENT SUPPRESSION CMOS READOUT CIRCUIT WITH NOVEL CDS STRUCTURE FOR LARGE FORMAT QWIP FPA

A new Dark Current Suppression (DCS) CMOS readout circuits for large format Quantum-Well-Infrared Photo-detector (QWIP) Focal-Plane-Array (FPA) with novel Correlated-Double-Sampling (CDS) structure based on dynamic source-follower are proposed, which can overcome the drawbacks of the present techniques, such as sensitive to the non-uniformity of the QWIP materials, poor readout noise features, low frame frequency, limited injection efficiency and dynamic range, etc. The dummy is adopted to realize dark current suppression, while the cascode current mirror (with current ratio of 1:10) can increase charge sensitivity and reduce integration time. Through the novel CDS structure, the output waveform is boxcar, and the frame frequency is increased. Simulation results demonstrate that, in high background sense, the proposed DCS circuit can suppress the dark current, achieve good readout performance, such as low power consumption, high charge sensitivity, high resolution, large dynamic range, and insensitive to the non-uniformity of the QWIP materials.

Influence of Different Surface Modifications on the Photovoltaic Performance and Dark Current of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

The TiO2 nanoporous film photoelectrode, as a crucial component of dye-sensitized solar cells, has been investigated. The photovoltaic properties and the dark current were studied by two surface modification methods. One was to apply a compact layer between the conductive glass substrate and nanoporous TiO2 film. Another was to produce TiO2 nanoparticles among the microstructure by TICl4 treatment. A suitable concentration and number of times for TICl4 treatment were found in our experiment. The dark current is suppressed by surface modifications, leading to a significant improvement in the solar cells performance. An excessive concentration of TICl4 will produce more surface states and introduce a larger dark current reversely. The dye is also regarded as a source of charge recombination in dark to some extent, due to an amount of surface protonations introduced by the interracial link in the conductive glass substrate/dye interface and dye/TiO2 interface.

New dark current component of InGaAs/InP HPDs confirmed by DLTS

The dark current of In_(0.47) Ga_(0.53) As/InP heterojunction photodiodes (HPDs) was analysed. We found that there exists a new dark current component──deep level-assisted tunnelling current.DLTS was used to measure the In_(0.47)Ga_(0.53)As/InP HPDs. An electronic trap which has a thermal activation energy of O.44 eV, level concentration of 3.10×10￣(13)cm￣(-3) and electronic capture cross section of 1.72×10￣(12)cm￣2 has been found.It's existence results in the new tunnelling current.

Dark Current Compensation and Sensitivity Adjustment on Gallium Arsenide Linear Array Detector for X-Ray Imaging

For the last several years, the linear array x-ray detector for x-ray imaging with gallium arsenide direct conversion sensitive elements has been developed and tested at the In-stitute for High Energy Physics. The array consists of 16 sensitive modules. Each module has 128 gallium arsenide (GaAs) sensitive elements with 200 μm pitch. Current article describes two key program procedures of initial dark current compensation of each sensitive element in the linear array, and sensitivity adjustment for alignment of strip pattern in the raw image data. As a part of evaluation process a modular transfer function (MTF) was measured with the slanted sharp-edge object under RQA5 technique as it described in the International Electrotechnical Commission 62220-1 standard (high voltage 70 kVp, additional aluminium filter 21 mm) for images with compensated dark currents and adjusted sensitivity of detector elements. The 10% level of the calculated MTF function has spatial resolution within 2 - 3 pair of lines per mm for both vertical and horizontal orientation.

Investigation on p-type doping of PBn unipolar barrier InAsSb photodetectors

The lattice-matched XBn structures of InAsSb,grown on GaSb substrates,exhibit high crystal quali⁃ty,and can achieve extremely low dark currents at high operating temperatures(HOT).Its superior performance is attributed to the unipolar barrier,which blocks the majority carriers while allowing unhindered hole transport.To further explore the energy band and carrier transport mechanisms of the XBn unipolar barrier structure,this pa⁃per systematically investigates the influence of doping on the dark current,photocurrent,and tunneling character⁃istics of InAsSb photodetectors in the PBn structure.Three high-quality InAsSb samples with unintentionally doped absorption layers(AL)were prepared,with varying p-type doping concentrations in the GaSb contact layer(CL)and the AlAsSb barrier layer(BL).As the p-type doping concentration in the CL increased,the device’s turn-on bias voltage also increased,and p-type doping in the BL led to tunneling occurring at lower bias voltages.For the sample with UID BL,which exhibited an extremely low dark current of 5×10^(-6) A/cm^(2).The photocurrent characteristics were well-fitted using the back-to-back diode model,revealing the presence of two opposing space charge regions on either side of the BL.

A New Method for Fitting Current–Voltage Curves of Planar Heterojunction Perovskite Solar Cells

Herein we propose a new equivalent circuit including double heterojunctions in series to simulate the current–voltage characteristic of P–I–N planar structure perovskite solar cells. This new method can theoretically solve the dilemma of the parameter diode ideal factor being larger than2 from an ideal single heterojunction equivalent circuit,which usually is in the range from 1 to 2. The diode ideal factor reflects PN junction quality, which influences the recombination at electron transport layer/perovskite and perovskite/hole transport layer interface. Based on the double PN junction equivalent circuit, we can also simulate the dark current–voltage curve for analyzing recombination current(Shockley–Read–Hall recombination) and diffusion current(including direct recombination), and thus carrier recombination and transportation characteristics. This new model offers an efficacious and simple method to investigate interfaces condition, film quality of perovskite absorbing layer and performance of transport layer, helping us furtherimprove the device efficiency and analyze the working mechanism.

Total ionizing dose effects in pinned photodiode complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor active pixel sensor

A pinned photodiode complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor transistor（CMOS） active pixel sensor is exposed to ^60Co to evaluate the performance for space applications. The sample is irradiated with a dose rate of 50 rad（SiO2）/s and a total dose of 100 krad（SiO2）, and the photodiode is kept unbiased. The degradation of dark current, full well capacity,and quantum efficiency induced by the total ionizing dose damage effect are investigated. It is found that the dark current increases mainly from the shallow trench isolation（STI） surrounding the pinned photodiode. Further results suggests that the decreasing of full well capacity due to the increase in the density, is induced by the total ionizing dose（TID） effect, of the trap interface, which also leads to the degradation of quantum efficiency at shorter wavelengths.

Theoretical study of a group IV p–i–n photodetector with a flat and broad response for visible and infrared detection

We report a theoretical study of a broadband Si/graded-SiGe/Ge/Ge0.9Sn0.1 p–i–n photodetector with a flat response based on modulating thickness of the layers in the active region.The responsivity of the photodetector is about 0.57 A/W in the range of 700 to 1800 nm.This structure is suitable for silicon-based epitaxial growth.Annealing is technically applied to form the graded-SiGe.The photodetector reaches a cut-off wavelength at^2300 nm and a low dark-current density under 3 V reverse bias about 0.17 mA/cm^2 is achieved theoretical at room temperature.This work is of great significance for silicon-based detection and communication,from visible to infrared.

Analysis of proton and γ-ray radiation effects on CMOS active pixel sensors

Radiation effects on complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor（CMOS） active pixel sensors（APS） induced by proton and γ-ray are presented. The samples are manufactured with the standards of 0.35 μm CMOS technology. Two samples have been irradiated un-biased by 23 MeV protons with fluences of 1.43 × 10^11 protons/cm^2 and 2.14 × 10^11 protons/cm-2,respectively, while another sample has been exposed un-biased to 65 krad（Si） ^60Co γ-ray. The influences of radiation on the dark current, fixed-pattern noise under illumination, quantum efficiency, and conversion gain of the samples are investigated. The dark current, which increases drastically, is obtained by the theory based on thermal generation and the trap induced upon the irradiation. Both γ-ray and proton irradiation increase the non-uniformity of the signal, but the nonuniformity induced by protons is even worse. The degradation mechanisms of CMOS APS image sensors are analyzed,especially for the interaction induced by proton displacement damage and total ion dose（TID） damage.

PbI_(2)/Pb_(5)S_(2)I_(6)van der Waals Heterojunction Photodetector

Investigations of two-dimensional(2D)/one-dimensional(1D)van der Waals(vdW)heterojunctions have attracted significant attention due to their excellent properties such as the smooth heterointerface,the highly gate-tunable bandgap,and the ultrafast carrier transport.However,the complicated method of manufacturing vdW heterojunction represents a major problem that severely limits their practical applications.Herein,we develop one-step hydrothermal method and use it to synthesize 2D PbI_(2)/1D Pb_(5)S_(2)I_(6)vdW heterojunction.The PbI_(2)/Pb_(5)S_(2)I_(6)vdW heterojunction photodetector(PD)displays lower dark current(<20 pA),higher responsivity(up to 134 mA·W-1),self-powered and wider response spectrum in comparison with that of pristine PbI_(2)PD and Pb_(5)S_(2)I_(6)PD.This one-step hydrothermal method provides a new idea for preparing other mixed-dimensional heterojunction.

Optimizing theπ-Bridge of Non-fullerene Acceptors to Suppress Dark Current in NIR Organic Photodetectors

Recently,the rapid development of non-fullerene acceptors(NFAs)has laid the foundation for performance improvements in near-infrared(NIR)organic photodetectors(OPDs).However,reducing the bandgap of NFAs to achieve strong absorption in the shorter-wave region usually leads to increased dark current density(J_(d))and decreased responsivity(R),severely limiting the detectivity(D*)of NIR-OPDs.To date,it remains challenging to manipulate the J_(d) of NIR-OPDs through rational structure engineering of NFAs.Herein,three NIR-NFAs,namely bis(2-decyltetradecyl)4,4′-(2′,7′-di-tert-butylspiro[cyclopenta[2,1-b:3,4-b′]dithiophene-4,9′-fluorene]-2,6-diyl)bis(6-(((Z)-1-(dicyanomethylene)-5,6-difluoro-3-oxo-1,3-dihydro-2H-inden-2-ylidene)methyl)thieno[3,4-b]thiophene-2-carboxylate)(TSIC-4F),bis(2-decyltetradecyl)6,6′-(2′,7′-di-tert-butylspiro[cyclopenta[2,1-b:3,4-b′]dithiophene-4,9′-fluorene]-2,6-diyl)bis(4-(((Z)-1-(dicyanomethylene)-5,6-difluoro-3-oxo-1,3-dihydro-2H-inden-2-ylidene)methyl)thieno[3,4-b]thiophene-2-carboxylate)(STIC-4F),and 2,2′-((2Z,2′Z)-(((2′,7′-di-tert-butylspiro[cyclopenta[2,1-b:3,4-b′]dithiophene-4,9′-fluorene]-2,6-diyl)bis(2,3-bis(5-(2-butyloctyl)thiophen-2-yl)thieno[3,4-b]pyrazine-7,5-diyl))bis(metha-neylylidene))bis(5,6-difluoro-3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-indene-2,1-diylidene))dimalononitrile(TPIC-4F),were designed using the thieno[3,4-b]thiophene(TT)and thieno[3,4-b]pyrazine(TPy)derivatives as theπ-bridge.Owing to the intramolecular S-S and S-N interactions,STIC-4F and TPIC-4F exhibited smaller backbone distortions than TSIC-4F.A significantly red-shifted absorption with a peak at 1015 nm was observed in TPIC-4F film,larger than that(ca.960 nm)for TSIC-4F and STIC-4F films.Moreover,OPDs operating in a photovoltaic mode were successfully fabricated,and TPIC-4F-based OPDs achieved the lowest J_(d) of 3.18×10^(-8) A/cm^(2) at-0.1 V.Impressively,although TPIC-4F-based OPDs exhibited the lowest R,higher shot-noise-limited specific detectivity(D_(sh)*)in 1000-1200 nm could be achieved due to its lowest J_(d).This study underscored the effectiveness of optimizing theπ-bridge structure of NFAs to suppress J_(d),ultimately attaining higher D_(sh)*in the NIR region.

Boosting the performance of crossed ZnO microwire UV photodetector by mechanical contact homo-interface barrier

One-dimensional(1D)micro/nanowires of wide band gap semiconductors have become one of the most promising blocks of high-performance photodetectors.However,in the axial direction of micro/nanowires,the carriers can transport freely driven by an external electric field,which usually produces large dark current and low detectivity.Here,an UV photodetector built from three cross-intersecting ZnO microwires with double homo-interfaces is demonstrated by the chemical vapor deposition and physical transfer techniques.Compared with the reference device without interface,the dark current of this ZnO double-interface photodetector is significantly reduced by nearly 5 orders of magnitude,while the responsivity decreases slightly,thereby greatly improving the normalized photocurrent-to-dark current ratio.In addition,ZnO double-interface photodetector exhibits a much faster response speed(~0.65 s)than the no-interface device(~95 s).The improved performance is attributed to the potential barriers at the microwire-microwire homo-interfaces,which can regulate the carrier transport.Our findings in this work provide a promising approach for the design and development of high-performance photodetectors.

Planar InAlAs/InGaAs avalanche photodiode with 360 GHz gain×bandwidth product

This paper describes a guardring-free planar InAlAs/InGaAs avalanche photodiode(APD)by computational simulations and experimental results.The APD adopts the structure of separate absorption,charge,and multiplication(SACM)with top-illuminated.Computational simulations demonstrate how edge breakdown effect is suppressed in the guardringfree structure.The fabricated APD experiment results show that it can obtain a very low dark current while achieving a high gain×bandwidth(GB)product.The dark current is 3 nA at 0.9Vb r,and the unit responsivity is 0.4 A/W.The maximum3 dB bandwidth of 24 GHz and a GB product of 360 GHz are achieved for the fabricated APD operating at 1.55μm.

Metal–organic framework wafer enabled fast response radiation detection with ultra-low dark current

Semiconductive metal–organic frameworks(MOFs)have attracted great interest for the electronic applications.However,dark currents of present hybrid organic–inorganic materials are 1000–10,000 times higher than those of commercial inorganic detectors,leading to poor charge transportation.Here,we demonstrate a ZIF-8(Zn(mim)_(2),mim=2-methylimidazolate)wafer with ultra-low dark current of 1.27 pA·mm^(-2) under high electric fields of 322 V·mm^(-1).The isostatic pressing preparation process provides ZIF-8 wafers with good transmittance.Besides,the presence of redox-active metals and small spatial separation between components promotes the charge hopping.The ZIF-8-based semiconductor detector shows promising X-ray detection sensitivity of 70.82μC·Gy^(-1)·cm^(-2) with low doses exposures,contributing to superior X-ray imaging capability with a relatively high spatial resolution of 1.2 lp·mm^(-1).Simultaneously,good peak discrimination with the energy resolution of~43.78%is disclosed when the detector is illuminated by uncollimated 241Am@5.48 MeVα-particles.These results provide a broad prospect of MOFs for future radiation detection applications.

Double-ended passivator enables dark-current-suppressed colloidal quantum dot photodiodes for CMOS-integrated infrared imagers

Lead sulfide(PbS)colloidal quantum dot(CQD)photodiodes integrated with silicon-based readout integrated circuits(ROICs)offer a promising solution for the next-generation short-wave infrared(SWIR)imaging technology.Despite their potential,large-size CQD photodiodes pose a challenge due to high dark currents resulting from surface states on nonpassivated(100)facets and trap states generated by CQD fusion.In this work,we present a novel approach to address this issue by introducing double-ended ligands that supplementally passivate(100)facets of halidecapped large-size CQDs,leading to suppressed bandtail states and reduced defect concentration.Our results demonstrate that the dark current density is highly suppressed by about an order of magnitude to 9.6 nA cm^(2) at -10 mV,which is among the lowest reported for PbS CQD photodiodes.Furthermore,the performance of the photodiodes is exemplary,yielding an external quantum efficiency of 50.8%(which corresponds to a responsivity of 0.532 A W^(-1))and a specific detectivity of 2.5×10^(12) Jones at 1300 nm.By integrating CQD photodiodes with CMOS ROICs,the CQD imager provides high-resolution(640×512)SWIR imaging for infrared penetration and material discrimination.

Mid-wavelength nBn photodetector with high operating temperature and low dark current based on InAs/InAsSb superlattice absorber

In this paper,we demonstrate nBn InAs/InAsSb type II superlattice(T2SL)photodetectors with AlAsSb as the barrier that targets mid-wavelength infrared(MWIR)detection.To improve operating temperature and suppress dark current,a specific Sb soaking technique was employed to improve the interface abruptness of the superlattice with device passivation using a SiO_(2) layer.These result in ultralow dark current density of 6.28×10^(-6)A/cm^(2)and 0.31 A/cm^(2)under-600 mV at 97 K and297 K,respectively,which is lower than most reported InAs/InAsSb-based MWIR photodetectors.Corresponding resistance area product values of 3.20×10^(4)Ω·cm^(2)and 1.32Ω·cm^(2)were obtained at 97 K and 297 K.A peak responsivity of 0.39 A/W with a cutoff wavelength around 5.5μm and a peak detectivity of 2.1×10^(9)cm·Hz^(1/2)/W were obtained at a high operating temperature up to 237 K.

Influence of hydrogenation on the dark current mechanism of HgCdTe photovoltaic detectors

The influence of hydrogenation on the dark current mechanism ofHgCdTe photovoltaic detectors is studied. The hydrogenation is achieved by exposing samples to a H2/Ar plasma atmosphere that was produced during a reactive ion etching process. A set of variable-area photomask was specially designed to evaluate the hydrogenation effect. It was found that the current-voltage characteristics were gradually improved when detectors were hydrogenated by different areas. The fitting results of experimental results at reverse bias conditions sustained that the improvement of current-voltage curves was due to the suppression of trap assisted tunneling current and the enhancement of minority lifetime in the depletion region. It was also found that the dominative forward current was gradually converted from a generation-recombination current to a diffusion current with the enlargement of the hydrogenation area, which was infered from the ideality factors by abstraction of forward resistance-voltage curves of different detectors.