Visible-Band Nanosecond Pulsed Laser Damage Thresholds of Silicon 2D Imaging Arrays

Laser-induced camera damage thresholds were measured for several sensors of three different sensor architectures using a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser in order to determine their pulsed laser-induced damage thresholds. Charge coupled device (CCD), front-side illuminated complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor (FSI CMOS), and back-side illuminated (BSI) CMOS sensors were assessed under laboratory and outdoor environments by increasing the focused laser intensity onto the sensors and recording the sensor output. The damage sites were classified qualitatively into damage types, and pixel counting methods were applied to quantitatively plot damage scale against laser intensity. Probit-fits were applied to find the intensity values where a 95% probability of damage would occur (FD₉₅) and showed that FD₉₅ was approximately the same under laboratory conditions for CCD, FSI CMOS, and BSI CMOS sensors (mean 532 nm FD₉₅ of 0.077 ± 0.01 Jcm^-2). BSI CMOS sensors were the most robust to large-scale damage effects-BSI sensor kill was found at approximately 10³ Jcm^-2, compared to 10 Jcm^-2 for FSI CMOS, and between ~1.6 and 2.7 Jcm^-2 for CCDs.