Active Pixel X-ray Detector Array Staggered Interconnects
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The high cost and limited practical size of crystalline silicon (c-Si) light imager panels in X-ray detectors due to expensive fabrication and wafer efficiency issues, which complicates interconnection arrangements and increases noise in high-resolution pixel arrays.
Innovation Solution
A flat panel X-ray detector design with a scintillator layer and a light imager layer featuring active pixels with separate readout select and reset gates, and a staggered interconnection approach that alternates data and scan lines between quadrants, allowing concurrent readout and reset operations, and off-panel scanning and readout circuitry to reduce interconnect complexity and noise.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If c-Si wafers are used to fabricate light imager panels, then electron mobility and pixel feature size are improved, but fabrication cost and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The light imager panel is divided into four quadrants, with each quadrant containing a subset of pixel rows. Scan lines are selectively connected to different quadrants, segmenting the interconnection complexity into manageable sections rather than requiring full-panel connections
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a quadrant-based spatial dimension to the interconnection architecture. By organizing pixels and scan lines into quadrants with selective connections, the system reduces interconnect complexity from a two-dimensional full-mesh problem to a more manageable quadrant-based topology
2Area of stationary object
If multiple c-Si wafers are tiled to form large panels, then panel size is improved, but fabrication cost and manufacturing complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The large panel is segmented into four smaller quadrant regions, each with its own scan line connections. This allows the panel to be constructed from smaller, more manageable c-Si wafer sections that can be tiled more efficiently, reducing overall fabrication cost
Solution Approach 2:
Not all scan lines are connected to all quadrants. Each quadrant receives scan lines only for the pixel rows it contains, avoiding excessive interconnections and reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining full panel functionality
3Ease of operation
If conventional scan line interconnections are used, then readout operation is simplified, but noise increases in high-resolution pixel arrays
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the pixel array into quadrants with selective scan line connections, the patent reduces the total length and number of interconnect paths. This segmentation minimizes noise accumulation while maintaining simplified readout operations within each quadrant
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of connecting all scan lines to all quadrants (conventional approach), the patent inverts the logic by connecting scan lines only to the quadrants that need them. This selective inversion reduces interconnect noise while preserving readout functionality
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design reduces the cost and complexity of interconnections, enhances spatial resolution, and minimizes noise in X-ray detectors by enabling efficient readout and reset operations within limited space, while maximizing wafer surface area usage.
Implementation Method 1
a scintillator layer that converts X-ray photons into lower energy light photons
Implementation Method 2
a light imager layer configured to convert the light photons into electrons
Data Source
AI summary
Fabrication and use of an X-ray detector scan interface having separate enable and reset lines for each line (e.g., row) of pixels is described. In certain implementations, the respective enable and reset lines are connected such that activation of an enable line for a given line of pixels is concurrent with activation of a reset line for a different (e.g., preceding) row of pixels. In this manner, readout of one row of pixels is performed in conjunction with resetting the row of pixels readout in the preceding operation. In another technical implementation, a non-rectangular detector is divided into quadrants, with alternating quadrants configured for scan module or data module operations such that no quadrant has overlapping scan and data interconnections at the connection finger regions.