Budget Amount *help |
¥3,600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,600,000)
Fiscal Year 2006: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000)
Fiscal Year 2005: ¥3,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,000,000)
|
Research Abstract |
Amorphous selenium (a-Se) is one of the x-ray photoconductors that is available for use in recently developed direct conversion flat panel x-ray image detectors for medical imaging. To obtain a better understanding of trapping and recombination effects in a-Se, we have studied light and x-ray induced photocurrents in a-Se films. The residual photocurrent, after x-ray exposure, decreases in sandwich cells whereas it increases in coplanar cells. These effects are recovered over a time scale of hours. We show that the results can be interpreted by using VAP (valence alternation pair) type charged defects. a-Se based x-ray detectors have shown some decrease in the sensitivity (fatigue) as a result of accumulated x-ray exposure. Reduction of sensitivity is one of drawbacks of a-Se detectors, resulting in a ghosting images. The term ghosting means the residual image from previous x-ray exposure. In some explanation of ghosting it has been suggested that x-ray exposure should lead to the gener
… More
ation of new deep traps. To get stabilized (and safe) real-time X-ray image (fluoroscopy), the following problems should be overcome : (1) Degradation of X-ray images with exposing X-ray (2) Delay of the response time, around several ten seconds, for getting a proper image. X-ray induced effects on the photocurrent were observed in a-Se. After x-ray exposure, the photocurrent increases in coplanar and decreases in sandwich cells. We have shown that coplanar and sandwich cells have totally different characteristics in terms of x-ray induced effects on the photocurrent. In the coplanar structure, the trapping of x-ray generated holes modifies the quasi-Fermi level and increased the photocurrent. In the sandwich structure, the trapped holes from the photocarriers act as recombination centers, when the x-ray induced electrons are trapped there. It has been turned out that the trapping of X-ray induced charges dominate "ghosting" in the images. It is suggested that new defects are not created by the present x-ray exposure conditions. Less
|