Amorphous selenium flat panel x-ray imager for tomosynthesis and static imaging

1. A digital, flat panel x-ray mammography imager exhibiting low ghosting, said imager having a top electrode directly on a selenium-based layer and having a thin-film transistor array with leakage current characteristics providing breakdown protection even when a transistor is coupled with a charge storage capacitor collecting charges from a region of the layer receiving x-rays that are not attenuated by an object being imaged in medical imaging, comprising:

a substrate having an upper surface;

a selenium-based charge generator layer over the upper surface of the substrate, said selenium-based layer also having an upper surface;

a top electrode directly on, and in physical and electrical contact with, the upper surface of the charge generator layer;

a charge collection electrode between the substrate and the charge generator layer, said charge collection electrode being patterned into a two-dimensional array of pixel electrodes;

said charge generator layer generating electrical charge in response to x-ray irradiation, and said pixel electrodes collecting charge of one polarity generated at respective regions of the charge generator layer when one or more selected electrical fields are established in the charge generator layer;

a read-out circuit, also between the substrate and the charge generator layer, said read-out circuit comprising respective signal storage capacitors coupled with said pixel electrodes and storing electrical charge collected thereby, and further comprising a thin-film transistor array of respective gating transistors coupled with said signal storage capacitors;

wherein each of said gating transistors is selectively switched between an ON state in which it passes charge from the respective storage capacitors to an outside circuit and an OFF state in which it passes leakage current; and

wherein the leakage current of each of said gating transistors rises at a relatively low rate with rise in potential at the respective capacitor below the range of 20–25 volts but rises at a significantly higher rate with rise in potential at the respective capacitor above said range, thereby protecting the transistors from breakdown damage even when the respective pixel electrode collects charge generated at a region of the charge generator layer receiving x-rays that are not attenuated by an object being imaged with said imager in medical imaging.

2. An imager as in claim 1 in which the top electrode comprises essentially at least one of Cr, Al and indium-tin oxide (ITO) or an alloy comprising at least one of Cr and Al.

3. An imager as in claim 1 in which the top electrode comprises essentially Cr or an alloy thereof.

4. An imager as in claim 1 in which the top electrode comprises essentially Al or an alloy thereof.

5. An imager as in claim 1 in which the top electrode comprises essentially indium-tin oxide.

6. An imager as in claim 1 in which the top electrode is made of an electrically conductive material that has a work function lower than 4.0 electron volt.

7. An imager as in claim 1 in which the top electrode is made of an electrically conductive material that has a work function lower than 4.5 electron volt.

8. An imager as in claim 1 in which the top electrode is made of an electrically conductive material that has a lower work function than selenium.

9. An imager as in claim 1 in which the top electrode is made of a one or more elements having an atomic number lower than 60.

10. An imager as in claim 1 in which the leakage current of each of said transistors is less than 10 pA at transistor voltage of 20 volts and more than 20 pA at transistor voltage of 30 volts.

11. An imager as in claim 10 in which the leakage current increases progressively with transistor voltage in the range of 20 volts to 30 volts.

12. An imager as in claim 1 in which the leakage current increases progressively with transistor voltage above 20 volts.

13. A digital, flat panel x-ray imager exhibiting low ghosting and rapid recovery time, comprising:

a substrate and a selenium-based charge generator layer over the substrate;

a top electrode directly on, and in physical and electrical contact with, an upper surface of the charge generator layer;

a charge collection electrode between the substrate and the charge generator layer, said charge collection electrode being divided into a two-dimensional array of pixel electrodes;

a read-out circuit, also between the substrate and the charge generator layer, said read-out circuit comprising respective signal storage capacitors coupled with said pixel electrodes and storing electrical charge collected thereby from the charge generating layer, and further comprising a thin-film transistor array of respective gating transistors coupled with said signal storage capacitors;

wherein each of said gating transistors is selectively switched between an ON state in which it passes charge from the respective storage capacitors to an outside circuit and an OFF state in which it passes leakage current; and

wherein the leakage current of each of said gating transistors rises at a relatively low rate with rise in potential at the respective capacitor up to a threshold level but rises at a significantly higher rate with rise in potential at the respective capacitor above said level, thereby protecting the transistors from breakdown damage.

14. An imager as in claim 13 in which the leakage current at voltages above said level rises at a rate sufficiently high to provide breakdown protection even for x-ray exposure that irradiates the imager in medical imaging without attenuation due to passage through an object being imaged.

15. An imager as in claim 14 in which said voltage level is in the range of 20–25 volts.

16. An imager as in claim 12 in which said leakage current rises generally linearly with transistor voltage up to about 20 volts at a first rate, and rises at a second rate that is progressively higher than the first rate with transistor voltage in the range of about 25–40 volts.

17. An imager as in claim 13 in which the top electrode comprises essentially at least one of Cr, Al and indium-tin oxide (ITO) or an alloy comprising at least one of Cr and Al.

18. An imager as in claim 13 in which the top electrode comprises essentially Cr or an alloy thereof.

19. An imager as in claim 13 in which the top electrode comprises essentially Al or an alloy thereof.

20. An imager as in claim 13 in which the top electrode comprises essentially indium-tin oxide.

21. An imager as in claim 13 in which the object being imaged is a human breast.

22. A medical x-ray imaging method comprising:

providing a digital, flat panel x-ray imager comprising a top electrode layer formed directly on, and in electrical contact with, one major surface of an amorphous selenium-based charge generating layer, and a thin film transistor (TFT) array at an opposite major surface of the charge generating layer, said TFT array comprising respective gating transistors coupled with signal storage elements collecting charge generated at respective regions of the charge generating layer in response to x-ray irradiation;

carrying out medical imaging an object with said imager, said object attenuating x-rays irradiation some but not all of said regions of the charge generating layer; and

said transistors having leakage current that is sufficiently low at transistor voltages that correspond to irradiation through the object to allow imaging the object but is sufficiently high at transistor voltages that correspond to irradiation not attenuated by the object to resist transistor breakdown.