Comparative evolution of various CCD image sensors hardening techniques with ionizing radiation

This paper reviews various techniques to harden Charge Coupled Device (CCD) sensors and the results after irradiation of three Thomson n buried channel CCDs having a different degree of hardening. It describes the major irradiation effects on CCD performances and it makes a comparison of the results between the different hardening levels. It shows good results on dark voltage after ionizing radiation for TH 7863M device hardened both by design and by operating conditions (MPP mode) with respect to the standard device TH 7863A. The irradiations were performed with /sup 60/Co or X-ray (10 keV) sources on devices in operating mode.<>