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US 8,633,448 B1Granted
Micro-machined gaseous radiation detectors
AssigneeAgiltron, Inc.
InventorsSteve (Shuyun) Wu, Jing Zhao
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Micro-machined gaseous radiation detector that includes arrays of micro scale detector cells which have a small distance between the anode and cathode and require lower voltages.
Claims18
A gaseous radiation detector comprising:
- one or more cathodes;
- and
- one or more anodes;
- each one anode being disposed a distance apart from at least one cathode;
- said distance being between about 50 μm to about 200 μm;
- said one or more cathodes and said one or more anodes being disposed in a substantially sealed chamber;
- a gaseous mixture being confined in said substantially sealed chamber;
- an electrical connection existing between said one or more cathodes and first electrical connection components accessible from an exterior of said substantially sealed chamber;
- an electrical connection existing between said one or more anodes and second electrical connection components accessible from the exterior of said substantially sealed chamber;
- a voltage provided between said first and at least some of said second electrical connections enabling operation of the gaseous radiation detector;
- said voltage being between about 50 V and about 200 V.
8 more elements
A gaseous radiation detector comprising:
- one or more cathodes;
- and
- one or more anodes;
- each one anode being disposed a distance apart from at least one cathode;
- said distance being between about 50 μm to about 200 μm;
- said one or more cathodes and said one or more anodes being disposed in a substantially sealed chamber and spaced apart from each other at a distance;
- a gaseous mixture being confined in said substantially sealed chamber;
- an electrical connection existing between said one or more anodes and second electrical connection components accessible from the exterior of said substantially sealed chamber;
- a voltage provided between said first and at least some of said second electrical connections enabling operation of the gaseous radiation detector;
- said voltage being between about 50 V and about 200 V;
- wherein said each one anode comprises electric field enhancement features.
8 more elements
A gaseous radiation detector comprising:
- one or more cathodes;
- and
- one or more anodes;
- each one anode being disposed a distance apart from at least one cathode;
- said distance being between about 50 μm to about 200 μm;
- said one or more cathodes and said one or more anodes being disposed in a substantially sealed chamber and spaced apart from each other at a distance;
- a gaseous mixture being confined in said substantially sealed chamber;
- an electrical connection existing between said one or more anodes and second electrical connection components accessible from the exterior of said substantially sealed chamber;
- a voltage provided between said first and at least some of said second electrical connections enabling operation of the gaseous radiation detector;
- said voltage being between about 50 V and about 200 V;
- wherein said one or more cathodes comprise one or more honeycomb structures;
- and wherein said one or more anodes comprise one or more posts, each post being located substantially in a center of one of said one or more honeycomb structures.
9 more elements
A method for fabricating a gaseous radiation detector, the method comprising the steps of:
- patterning the front side of a silicon wafer;
- the front side being patterned to define one or more anodes and one or more cathodes;
- forming a recess in a glass substrate;
- bonding the silicon wafer to the recessed glass substrate;
- depositing a photoresist mask on the patterned front side of the silicon wafer;
- deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) the front side of the silicon wafer through the photoresist mask;
- deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) the front side of the silicon wafer using the pattern as a mask, thereby constituting a second DRIE of the front side of the silicon wafer;
- the second DRIE resulting in a at least two columnar structures;
- one of the first or second DRIE forming a passage from the front side to the recess in the glass substrate;
- providing a metal coating on the front side of the silicon wafer after the second DRIE;
- filling the recess in the glass substrate and the columnar structures with a predetermined gaseous mixture;
- and
- sealing the front side with a radiation window.
10 more elements
A method for fabricating a gaseous radiation detector, the method comprising the steps of:
- depositing a metal film on a substrate;
- patterning the metal film to provide at least two separate metal areas;
- forming columnar conductive structures on each of the at least two separate metal areas;
- attaching a silicon frame to the substrate in order to form a cavity enclosing the columnar conductive structures;
- filling the cavity with a predetermined gaseous mixture;
- and
- sealing the cavity with a radiation window.
4 more elements
A method for fabricating a gaseous radiation detector, the method comprising the steps of:
- growing a silicon oxide layer on a front surface and a back surface of a silicon substrate;
- coating the front surface and the back surface of the silicon substrate with a silicon nitride layer;
- patterning contact holes through the silicon nitride layer on the back surface;
- depositing metal leads protruding through and substantially filing each contact hole and patterning a metallization structure connecting at least some of the metal leads;
- deep reactive ion etching, through a mask, the front surface and forming posts and honeycomb structures;
- each post being located substantially in a center of one of said one or more honeycomb structures;
- depositing a metal film over the posts and at least part of the honeycomb structures;
- filling space between the posts and the honeycomb structures with a predetermined gaseous mixture;
- and
- sealing the front surface with a radiation window.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.