Single Event Effects in 0.18 μm Pinned Photodiode CMOS Image Sensors: SEU and SEFI

Abstract CMOS Image Sensors (CISs) can easily be susceptible to heavy-ion radiation in space applications. The sensitivity of Single Event Effect (SEE) in CIS is explored by heavy ion broad beam experiments and laser experiments. Pinned Photodiode (PPD) CMOS Image Sensors were exposed to heavy ions with Linear Energy Transfer (LET) (8.62–81.35 MeV cm2 mg−1). The digital peripheral circuits of CIS studied were found sensitive to heavy-ion-induced Single Event Upset (SEU) and Single Event Function Interrupt (SEFI). The vulnerable elements of digital peripheral circuits are identified by the analysis of the corrupted images under heavy ion beam and positioning function of laser experiment. Some SEE-induced corruption images that were not reported before are presented in this paper. Results showed that row decoder, digital control signals and Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) registers in CIS studied are sensitive to SEU and SEFI.