Abstract
The aim of the study was to evaluate the use of a novel bonding technology to create a sapphire-ceramic package for CMOS image sensor devices. The package must be robust enough to be used in space flight applications: it must protect the device from external environmental conditions during testing, storage and use. A series of tests were executed to ensure the package quality. The package needs to be radiation-tolerant to ensure reliability of data in high radiation environments, such as in space. Package hermeticity is an important reliability requirement not only in space but also in other applications such as medical implants, military, nuclear inspection and telecoms.
It was proved that novel bonding technique enables direct sapphire to ceramic bonding: robust packages were manufactured. A significant improvement in moisture levels was observed compared to (typically)epoxy sealed packages: detected moisture levels were of only one tenth of what is commonly seen in the stressed image sensor packages. Environmental changes had no influence on the package & device functionality or quality.
A High Full Well Capacity CMOS Image Sensor for Space Applications