UV-sensitive TDI imager combines the best of CCD and CMOS technology
Combining CCD TDI pixels and CMOS readout technology, the UV line-scan imager uses backside illumination and a UV-specific antireflection coating to reach high quantum efficiency from 250 to 400 nm.
Nanoelectronics and digital technologies research hub Imec (Leuven, Belgium) has developed an ultraviolet (UV)-sensitive time-delay integration (TDI) imager based on its charge-coupled device (CCD) in complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) or CCD-in-CMOS technology. By applying backside illumination technology and a UV-specific antireflection coating, a peak quantum efficiency of more than 70% is achieved in the near-UV region from 250 to 400 nm, making the sensor ideal for semiconductor inspection and other applications that require sensitivity to wavelengths smaller than visible light.
The CCD-in-CMOS technology combines CCD TDI pixels and CMOS readout in one technology, for a low-noise (10 e-), low-power-consumption (<3 W), high-sensitivity, high-speed (up to 300 kHz line rate) chip-scale single-line-scanning imager. Imec developed a single poly CCD pixel inside its 130 nm CMOS imager platform, which includes backside illumination postprocessing. Fabricated on 200 mm wafers, the UV sensor manufacturing steps are also compatible with other postprocessing wafer-level techniques, including spectral filter integration to enable multispectral TDI line-scan imaging. While this latest imager is UV-sensitive, visible-wavelength-sensitive image sensors are also available. Reference: https://goo.gl/qZZLxs.
