Radiation Sensor, and its Application in a Charged-Particle Microscope

Abstract

A pixelated CMOS radiation sensor (e.g. in a 4T pinned photodiode device) that comprises a layered structure including: A p-type Si substrate; An n-doped region within said substrate; A p+-doped pinning layer that overlies said n-doped region; An SiOx layer that overlies said p+-doped pinning layer and serves as a Pre-Metal Dielectric or Inter-Metal Dielectric layer, in which a Boron film is deposited between said p+-doped pinning layer and said SiOx layer. Application of such a (pure) Boron film serves to reduce leakage current by one or more orders of magnitude. Even a relatively thin Boron film (e.g. thickness 1-2 nm) can produce this effect.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.