Stability and photometric accuracy of CMOS image sensors in space: Radiation damage, surface charge and quantum confinement in silicon detectors

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how radiation-induced surface charge variability affects the stability and photometric accuracy of CMOS silicon detectors across a broad spectral range, crucial for NASA's space missions.

Contribution

It provides an analysis of radiation effects on silicon detector stability and photometry, focusing on surface charge variability in space environments.

Findings

Radiation causes surface charge variability impacting detector stability.

Surface charge effects are significant in the extreme ultraviolet range.

Implications for future NASA missions are discussed.

Abstract

Stability and photometric accuracy of silicon imaging detectors are essential for the Habitable Worlds Observatory and a range of NASA missions that will explore time domain astrophysics and astronomy over a spectral range spanning soft X-rays through the ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared. Detector stability is one of the oldest and most challenging problems in NASA missions. The challenges are particularly acute in the extreme ultraviolet range, where near-surface absorption of high-energy photons causes surfaces to degrade rapidly. In this paper, the effects of radiation-induced variability of surface charge on detector stability and photometric accuracy are analyzed in order to assess the implications for future NASA missions.