Comparison of displacement damage effects on the dark signal in CMOS image sensors induced by CSNS back-n and XAPR neutrons

This study investigates the effects of displacement damage on the dark signal of a pinned photodiode CMOS image sensor (CIS) following irradiation with back-streaming white neutrons from white neutron sources at the China spallation neutron source (CSNS) and Xi’an pulsed reactor (XAPR). The mean dark signal, dark signal non-uniformity (DSNU), dark signal distribution, and hot pixels of the CIS were compared between the CSNS back-n and XAPR neutron irradiations. The non-ionizing energy loss and energy distribution of primary knock-on atoms in silicon, induced by neutrons, were calculated using the open-source package Geant4. An analysis combining experimental and simulation results showed a noticeable proportionality between the increase in the mean dark signal and the displacement damage dose (DDD). Additionally, neutron energies influence DSNU, dark signal distribution, and hot pixels. High neutron energies at the same DDD level may lead to pronounced dark signal non-uniformity and elevated hot pixel values.