Total ionizing dose test with DEPFET sensors for Athena's WFI

TL;DR

This study evaluates the effects of ionizing radiation on DEPFET sensors used in Athena's WFI, demonstrating their resilience to radiation-induced changes under realistic mission conditions.

Contribution

It provides the first dedicated TID test of DEPFET-based detectors for space applications, including irradiation during nominal operation and analysis of annealing effects.

Findings

Threshold voltage shifted by 80 mV after 14 Gy irradiation

Readout noise increased by 10% post-irradiation

Detector performance remained stable despite radiation exposure

Abstract

The focal plane of Athena's WFI consists of spectroscopic single photon X-ray detectors that contain arrays of DEPFETs (DEpleted P-channel Field-Effect Transistor) as well as ASICs that are used for steering, readout and analog signal shaping. These components have to be examined regarding the effect of ionizing radiation. A Total Ionizing Dose (TID) test was done with prototype detector modules with 64x64 DEPFETs and one SWITCHER and VERITAS ASIC each. The current design of the WFI detector head features a proton shield equivalent to 4 cm of aluminum in order to prevent a strong increase of leakage current in the fully depleted 450 $\mu$m thick bulk of the sensor. This keeps the expected doses and dose rates during the nominal mission relatively low ($\sim$5 Gy). It is nevertheless important to study the current system in a dedicated TID test in order to exclude unforeseen effects and to study any radiation related changes that can have an effect on the very sensitive readout chain and the detector performance. The combination of low doses, low dose rates, low operating temperature (<-60{\deg}C) but high sensitivity on small changes of the threshold voltages represent somehow unusual boundary conditions in comparison to TID tests for standard radiation hard electronic components. Under these circumstances it was found beneficial to do the test in our own laboratory with an X-ray source in order to realize irradiation during nominal operation conditions. Furthermore, it facilitated to take annealing effects into account. Reasonably accurate dosimetry is achieved by measuring the X-ray spectrum and intensity with the device under test. After irradiation to a total dose of 14 Gy and subsequent annealing the threshold voltage of the DEPFETs were shifted by a mean value of 80 mV, the performance remained unchanged apart from a slight increase in readout noise by 10%.