Integrated energy-sensitive and position-sensitive x-ray detection system
First Claim
1. An integrated apparatus, comprising:
- a wafer;
an x-ray detector fabricated on said wafer having a housing, a plurality of anodes and a gas contained in said housing, wherein at least a portion of said housing passes x-ray photons which partially ionize said gas thereby producing at least one pulse at one of said plurality of anodes;
a plurality of active signal processing circuits integrated into said wafer and respectively coupled to said plurality of anodes, wherein a respective one of said plurality of signal processing circuits receives and processes said at least one pulse to yield a digital signal indicating location of said one of said plurality of anodes and amplitude of said pulse; and
an electrically isolating layer for electrically isolating said x-ray detector from said plurality of active signal processing circuits.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An integrated x-ray detection system includes an x-ray detector fabricated on a wafer with a housing for containing a gas. The detector has a plurality of microstrip anodes and the housing passes x-rays which partially ionize the gas thereby producing a pulse at one of the anodes. The same wafer also has a plurality of integrated active signal processing circuits which are respectively coupled to the anodes. Each active signal processing circuit receives and processes pulses from respective ones of the anodes and outputs a digital signal indicating the location and energy of x-rays detected by the detector. An isolation layer separates the x-ray detector from the active signal processing circuits.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. An integrated apparatus, comprising:
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a wafer; an x-ray detector fabricated on said wafer having a housing, a plurality of anodes and a gas contained in said housing, wherein at least a portion of said housing passes x-ray photons which partially ionize said gas thereby producing at least one pulse at one of said plurality of anodes; a plurality of active signal processing circuits integrated into said wafer and respectively coupled to said plurality of anodes, wherein a respective one of said plurality of signal processing circuits receives and processes said at least one pulse to yield a digital signal indicating location of said one of said plurality of anodes and amplitude of said pulse; and an electrically isolating layer for electrically isolating said x-ray detector from said plurality of active signal processing circuits. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An integrated x-ray detection system, comprising:
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a wafer capable of supporting integrated circuitry; a housing for housing said wafer and a gas, wherein at least a portion of said housing passes x-ray photons which partially ionize said gas thereby producing at least one electron; a plurality of anodes fabricated on said wafer, said plurality of anodes being maintained at a first potential; a plurality of potential strips alternately arranged among said plurality of anodes on said wafer and maintained at a second potential; a cathode plane arranged along said wafer and maintained at a third potential; a back potential plane fabricated on said wafer and maintained at a fourth potential, wherein said first, second, third and fourth potentials are selected such that said at least one electron is accelerated toward one of said plurality of anodes with sufficient energy to produce a pulse at said one of said plurality of anodes; a plurality of active signal processing circuits integrated into said wafer and respectively coupled to said plurality of anodes wherein a respective one of said plurality of signal processing circuits receives and processes said pulse to yield a digital signal indicating location of said one of said plurality of anodes and height of said pulse; and an insulating layer for separating said plurality of anodes, said plurality of potential strips and said back potential plane from said active signal processing circuit. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification