MI-3 Plus

CMOSActive Pixel Sensors(APS)以其卓越的性能、灵活性以及与采集和处理要求的紧密结合，正在给成像的许多方面带来革命性的变化。它们的进步在很大程度上要归功于主流cmos技术的进步。业界专注于为数码相机和移动电话等大众市场开发cmos成像器。在MI-3中，我们聚集了足够的技术专业知识和用户，为广泛的科学领域开发APS技术。这个名为MI-3 Plus的项目将推进这项技术的一个方面--即实现抗辐射、晶片规模的成像仪，面积约为12厘米，专门为科学和临床用途而设计。通过这样做，我们直接解决了EPSRC硅技术大挑战(2008)中列出的挑战之一--用于医疗应用和爆炸物和武器成像的大型成像阵列。这种大的成像器将能够应对超过10MRad的累积辐射剂量，大约为12厘米x 12厘米，并包含可编程的帧内重置和入库，以应对许多医疗/科学应用中发现的图像强度的广泛动态。有可能以最小的结合间隙来平铺这些成像器，以生产用于放射照相的全身无透镜系统等。成像器和支持的采集系统将在许多关键应用领域进行试验，即：*使用实验室和同步加速器源的骨/乳房射线照相*实验室和同步加速器源的结构结晶学*高分辨率和歧视性行李筛选*数字乳房照相，特别是断层合成(3D成像)*用于放射治疗(x射线和质子)的耐辐射超大面积传感器。更通用的cmos技术可用于医学、生命科学、等--所谓的芯片实验室概念。这是构成EPSRC大挑战之一的另一个主题。通过选择性蚀刻我们的APS设备，我们将展示使用这种新方法在高灵敏度和高分辨率下非常有效的成像的优势。总的来说，我们将严格进行与现有方法的比较；所产生的系统将被广泛展示给各自的用户群体和相关的商业系统提供商。

CMOS Active Pixel Sensors (APS) are revolutionising many aspects of imaging with their superior performance, flexibility and close integration with the acquisition and processing requirements. Their progress is, in no small part, due to advances in mainstream CMOS technology. Industry is focussed on developing CMOS imagers for the mass markets such as digital cameras and mobile phones. Within MI-3, we brought together sufficient technology expertise and users to exploit APS technology for a broad range of science. This project, MI-3 Plus, will take forward one aspect of this technology - namely, the realisation of radiation-hard, wafer-scale imagers, approximately 12 cm square, specially designed for scientific and clinical use. In doing so, we directly address one of the challenges set out in the EPSRC Grand Challenges in Silicon Technology (2008) - Large imaging arrays for use in medical applications and imaging of explosives and weapons. Such large imagers will be able to cope with an accumulated radiation dose in excess of 10 MRad, be approximately 12 cm x 12 cm and incorporate programmable intra-frame resets and binning to cope with the wide dynamics of image intensity found in many medical/scientific applications. It would be possible to tile these imagers, with a minimum bonding gap, to produce torso-wide lensless systems for radiography, etc. The imagers, and the supporting acquisition systems, will be trialled in number of key application areas, namely:* Bone/breast radiography using laboratory and synchrotron sources * Structural crystallography on laboratory and synchrotron sources* High resolution and discriminatory baggage screening * Digital mammography, in particular tomosynthesis (3D imaging) * Radiation-hard very large area sensors for radiotherapy (x-ray and proton) The more general capabilities of CMOS technology can be exploited in miniature analytical instruments for medicine, life sciences, etc - the so-called Lab-on-a-chip concept. This is another topic that forms one of the EPSRC Grand Challenges. Through selective etching of our APS devices we will demonstrate the advantages of very efficient imaging - at high sensitivity and resolution - using this new approach.Overall, comparisons with existing methods will be rigorously undertaken; and the resulting systems will be widely demonstrated to their respective user communities and associated commercial system providers.