Semiconductor high-energy radiation imaging device

A high-energy radiation imaging system comprising:

• a semiconductor high-energy radiation imaging device having an array of pixel cells, said imaging device comprising:
• a semiconductor detector substrate including an array of pixel detector cells, wherein each pixel detector cell directly generates charge in response to incident high-energy radiation;
• and
• a semiconductor readout substrate including an array of individually addressable pixel circuits, wherein each pixel circuit is connected to a corresponding pixel detector cell to form a pixel cell, each of said pixel circuits including charge accumulation circuitry for accumulating charge directly resulting from high-energy radiation incident on said corresponding pixel detector cell, readout circuitry for reading out the accumulated charge from said charge accumulation circuitry and reset circuitry for resetting said charge accumulation circuitry said charge accumulation circuitry having a capacitance forming substantially a total capacitance of said charge accumulation circuitry, said readout circuitry, said reset circuitry and said corresponding pixel detector cell and a charge storage capacity sufficient to store at least 1.8 million electrons for accumulating charge directly resulting from a plurality of successive high-energy radiation hits on said corresponding pixel detector cell prior to readout or resetting of said charge accumulation circuitry;
• control electronics coupled to said array of pixel cells and including addressing logic for individually addressing a pixel circuit, said control electronics being configured to read an accumulated charge value from said pixel circuit and selectively to reset said pixel circuit;
• an image processor coupled to said control electronics for forming an image from said accumulated charge value;
• and
• a display device coupled to said image processor for displaying said image.

A method for imaging accumulated charge values corresponding to respective pixel positions within a semiconductor high-energy radiation imaging device having an array of pixel cells, the imaging device having a semiconductor detector substrate including an array of pixel detector cells, wherein each pixel detector cell directly generates charge in response to incident radiation, and a semiconductor readout substrate including a corresponding array of individually addressable pixel circuits, wherein each pixel circuit is connected to a corresponding pixel detector cell to form a pixel cell and includes charge accumulation circuitry for accumulating charge directly resulting from radiation incident on the corresponding pixel detector cell, readout circuitry for reading out the accumulated charge from the charge accumulation circuitry and reset circuitry for resetting the charge accumulation circuitry, the charge accumulation circuitry having a capacitance forming substantially a total capacitance of said charge accumulation circuitry, said readout circuitry, said reset circuitry and the corresponding pixel detector cell, and a charge storage capacity sufficient to store at least 1.8 million electrons for accumulating charge directly resulting from a plurality of successive high-energy radiation hits on the corresponding pixel detector cell prior to readout or resetting of the charge accumulation circuitry, said method comprising the steps of:

• determining a maximum accumulated charge value and a minimum accumulated charge value for displaying one or more pixel cells within an area of an array of pixel cells to be imaged;
• assigning a first extreme color value to the maximum accumulated charge value and a second extreme color value to the minimum accumulated charge value;
• accumulating charge in each of the one or more pixel cells corresponding to successive radiation hits on the pixel detector cell;
• assigning a color value to each of the one or more pixel cells, scaled in accordance with the first and second extreme color values based upon the accumulated charge for the pixel cell;
• and
• imaging the assigned color values at respective image pixel positions.

A method for performing real-time imaging of an object using a semiconductor high-energy radiation imaging device comprising an array of pixel cells, the imaging device having a semiconductor detector substrate including an array of pixel detector cells which directly generate charge in response to incident radiation, and a semiconductor readout substrate including a corresponding array of individually addressable pixel circuits, wherein each pixel circuit is connected to a corresponding pixel detector cell to form a pixel cell and includes charge accumulation circuitry for accumulating charge directly resulting from radiation incident on the corresponding pixel detector cell, readout circuitry for reading out the accumulated charge from the charge accumulation circuitry and reset circuitry for resetting the charge accumulation circuitry, the charge accumulation circuitry having a capacitance forming substantially a total capacitance of said charge accumulation circuitry, said readout circuitry, said reset circuitry and the corresponding pixel detector cell, and a charge storage capacity sufficient to store at least 1.8 million electrons for accumulating charge directly resulting from a plurality of successive high-energy radiation hits on the corresponding pixel detector cell prior to readout or resetting of the charge accumulation circuitry, said method comprising the steps of:

• irradiating the object;
• accumulating charge in the charge accumulation circuitry of each pixel circuit resulting from successive radiation hits incident on the pixel detector cell;
• addressing each of the pixel circuits individually to read out a respective accumulated charge;
• and
• displaying image pixel data using the read out accumulated charges.

A high-energy radiation imaging system comprising:

• a semiconductor detector substrate including an array of pixel detector cells which directly generate charge in response to incident radiation;
• and
• a semiconductor readout substrate including a corresponding array of individually addressable pixel circuits, wherein each pixel circuit is connected to a corresponding pixel detector cell to form a pixel cell and includes charge accumulation circuitry for accumulating charge directly resulting from radiation incident on said corresponding pixel detector cell, readout circuitry for reading out the accumulated charge from said charge accumulation circuitry and reset circuitry for resetting said charge accumulation circuitry, said charge accumulation circuitry having a capacitance forming substantially a total capacitance of said charge accumulation circuitry, said readout circuitry, said reset circuitry and said corresponding pixel detector cell, and a charge storage capacity sufficient to store at least 1.8 million electrons for accumulating charge directly resulting from a plurality of successive high-energy radiation hits on said corresponding pixel detector cell prior to readout or resetting of said charge accumulation circuitry;
• addressing logic coupled to said imaging device for individually addressing said pixel circuit to read the accumulated charge and selectively to reset said pixel circuit;
• and
• control electronics coupled to said addressing logic, said control electronics including an analog-to-digital converter for converting the accumulated charge to a digital charge value, said control electronics being configured to accumulate respective digital charge values for each of a plurality of image frames to form an image for display.

A method for imaging an object using an imaging system including a semiconductor radiation imaging device having an array of pixel cells, said imaging device comprising a semiconductor detector substrate including an array of pixel detector cells which directly generate charge in response to incident radiation, a semiconductor readout substrate including a corresponding array of individually addressable pixel circuits, wherein each pixel circuit is connected to a corresponding pixel detector cell to form a pixel cell and includes charge accumulation circuitry for accumulating charge directly resulting from radiation incident on the corresponding pixel detector cell, readout circuitry for reading out the accumulated charge from the charge accumulation circuitry and reset circuitry for resetting the charge accumulation circuitry, addressing logic coupled to the imaging device for individually addressing the pixel circuit to read the accumulated charge and selectively to reset the pixel circuit, and control electronics coupled to the addressing logic, the charge accumulation circuitry having a capacitance forming substantially a total capacitance of the charge accumulation circuitry, the readout circuitry, the reset circuitry and the corresponding pixel detector cell, and a charge storage capacity sufficient to store at least 1.8 million electrons for accumulating charge directly resulting from a plurality of successive high-energy radiation hits on the corresponding pixel detector cell prior to readout or resetting of the charge accumulation circuitry, the control electronics including an analog-to-digital converter for converting the accumulated charge to a digital charge value, the control electronics being configured to accumulate respective digital charge values for each of a plurality of image frames to form an image for display, said method comprising the steps of:

• irradiating the object;
• accumulating charge in the charge accumulation circuitry of each pixel circuit resulting from successive radiation hits incident on the pixel detector cell;
• addressing each of the pixel circuits individually to read out the respective accumulated charge;
• and
• displaying image pixel data using the read out accumulated charges.