RU2351038C2 - Radiation detector, radiation image generating apparatus and system for generating radiation images - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: physics.

SUBSTANCE: proposed invention pertains to devices for detecting radiation, which contains a transforming element, which transforms radiation or light to the electric current carrier, and thin-film transistor, which is a device for switching to pixels. This device makes it possible to pick up very small signals with a semiconductor transforming element by increasing the signal-to-noise ratio of the radiation detector. Radiation image forming apparatus, contains a device for detecting radiation, which in turn contains: pixels, including a transforming element, placed on the insulating base, transforming elements, placed above the specified switching elements, gate wiring, connected with each of the transforming elements, placed in the direction of the rows on the specified insulating base, signal wiring, connected to each of the switching elements placed in the direction of the columns, many insulating films placed between the specified switching elements and the specified transforming elements, the specified signal wiring is placed tightly to the position of the specified pixels, joined at the greatest distance from the specified signal-processing circuit.

EFFECT: possibility of picking up very small signals with a semiconductor transforming element by increasing the signal-to-noise ratio of the radiation detector.

10 cl, 26 dwg

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a radiation detection device including a conversion element converting radiation or light into electric current carriers, and a thin film transistor (TFT), which is a switching element in a pixel.

The radiation detection device is mainly used, respectively, as a radiation detection device detecting radiation, and is used as a medical diagnostic device, a non-destructive testing device, an analysis device using radiation, and the like. Therefore, it is assumed in the present description that visible light or the like, without limitation to alpha rays, beta rays, gamma rays and the like, which are beams produced by particles (including photons) emitted during radioactive decay, and also beams having energy expressed in the same degree of intensity as beams of particles that generate, for example, x-rays, corpuscular radiation, cosmic radiation, etc., are included in the concept of "radiation".

State of the art

Recently, there has been a rapid increase in the size of matrix panels on thin-film transistors that are formed on insulating substrates, and an increase in the rate of excitation of matrix panels on thin-film transistors. LCD panel manufacturing techniques are used for a two-dimensional sensor (for example, a radiation detection device) including semiconductor converting elements, each of which converts radiation, such as x-ray radiation, into an electrical signal. As such, the semiconductor converter element is, for example, a semiconductor converter element having a wavelength conversion layer (e.g., a phosphor layer) that converts a wavelength of radiation, such as x-ray radiation, into light, such as visible light, on the surface of the semiconductor conversion element and performing photoelectric light conversion, a semiconductor conversion element using a semiconductor converter -material performing direct conversion of radiation into an electric signal, etc.

On a substrate on which such semiconductor converting elements and thin-film transistors are located in a two-dimensional structure for reading electrical signals from semiconductor converting elements, to read the radiation dose, the radiation dose of each pixel or the amount of light converted from the radiation is detected. Although it is possible to obtain a very sensitive device for detecting radiation by detecting additional doses, it is necessary to place semiconductor converting elements, effectively using the entire space while maintaining the characteristics of thin-film transistors.

Therefore, in the prior art, it was proposed after the formation of an array of thin-film transistors to lay up semiconductor converter elements on an array of thin-film transistors to prevent deterioration of aperture performance of thin-film transistors and to increase sensitivity. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-15002 describes semiconductor converter elements located on top of thin-film transistors.

A leveling layer is formed on the source electrode and the drain electrode of the thin film transistor, and a semiconductor converter element is formed on top of the leveling layer. The leveling layer provides a reduction in capacitive coupling between the thin film transistor and the semiconductor converter element and, therefore, it becomes possible to form the semiconductor converter element on the thin film transistor and each wiring. By adopting such a configuration, the aperture value of the semiconductor converter element increases.

Disclosure of invention

However, since radiography is carried out in an area in which the radiation dose is very small, for example, using a radiographic moving image sensor of the radiation detection device, it is necessary to accurately read a very small signal from the semiconductor converter element. In this case, it is necessary, among other things, to increase the signal-to-noise ratio of the radiation detection device. This can be done by using, for example, an alignment layer and by placing the semiconductor converter element on the alignment layer to increase the aperture value of the semiconductor converter element and to increase the sensitivity of the semiconductor converter element. Therefore, among other things, it is necessary to reduce noise to increase the signal-to-noise ratio. For this, it is necessary to reduce the capacitance of signal wiring and gate wiring.

The present invention is directed to increasing the sensitivity and reducing noise by reducing stray capacitance between the signal wiring and the gate wiring in two-dimensionally arranged pixels of the radiation detection device, each of which consists of a coupled conversion element that converts radiation, excluding light, or light into electric current carriers, and a switching element. In addition, the aim of the present invention is to increase sensitivity and reduce noise by reducing stray capacitance between the converter element and the wiring. In addition, the present invention provides a high signal-to-noise ratio conversion device capable of recording a high-quality image, even if the level of incident radiation or incident light is small, in the case of high-speed excitation during high-speed radiography or the presence of a moving image.

To solve the above problems, the radiation detection device according to the present invention includes: pixels including switching elements located on the insulating substrate, and conversion elements located above the switching elements for converting radiation into electric current carriers, the switching elements and the conversion elements are connected to each other, the pixels are arranged in a two-dimensional manner on an insulating substrate to form a matrix; gate wiring, usually connected to each of the switching elements located in the direction of the rows on the insulating substrate; signal wiring, usually connected to each of the switching elements located in the direction of the columns; and a plurality of insulating films located between the switching elements and the converting elements, wherein at least one of the gate wiring and the signal wiring is located so as to be between the plurality of insulating films.

According to the present invention, one of the signal wiring and the gate wiring is located between two insulating layers, as a result of which a radiation detection device with a reduced wiring capacity, compact layout and low noise is provided. Therefore, even in the case of a large number of signal wiring and gate wiring, which are excited simultaneously, a large number of signals can be read at the same time. As a result, during processing of an image moving at a high speed, even in the case of a small dose of incident radiation, for example, when limiting the radiation dose, accurate information about the image can be obtained from the indication.

In addition, in the present description, a conversion element converting radiation into electric current carriers means an element receiving light such as visible light, infrared light and the like, and radiation such as X-rays, alpha rays, beta rays , gamma rays, etc., for converting received light and received radiation into electric current carriers. The conversion element includes a photoelectric conversion element that converts light, such as visible light, infrared light and the like, into electric current carriers, and an element made of amorphous selenium or the like, as a semiconductor layer for directly converting radiation, such as x-rays and the like, in electric current carriers.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like and same parts are used to denote the same or like parts in all of the figures.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the application, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

In the drawings:

1 is a plan view illustrating pixels of a radiation detection apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

figure 2 is a section taken along the line 2-2 in figure 1;

3 is a simplified equivalent circuit diagram of a radiation imaging apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a top view of pixels of a radiation detection device according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a section taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

6 is a simplified equivalent circuit diagram of a radiation imaging device of the present invention shown in figures 4 and 5;

7 is another top view illustrating the pixels of the radiation detection device according to the second embodiment of the present invention, this view being different from the view shown in FIG. 4;

Fig. 8 is a section taken along line 8-8 of Fig. 7;

Fig.9 is an additional top view illustrating the pixels of the radiation detection device according to the second embodiment of the present invention, this view being different from the view shown in Figures 4 and 7;

FIG. 10 is a simplified equivalent circuit diagram of a radiation imaging apparatus shown in FIG. 9;

11 is a top view of pixels of a radiation detection device according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

12 is a section taken along the line 12-12 of FIG. 11;

13 is a simplified equivalent circuit diagram of a radiation imaging apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a pixel section of a radiation detection device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention, obtained along a line corresponding to line 2-2 shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 15 is a sectional view illustrating a boundary portion of a region where the first and second insulating films shown in FIG. 14 are located and regions where they are not located;

FIG. 16 is a plan view of pixels of a radiation detection apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention; FIG.

Fig.17 is a section taken along the line 17-17 in Fig.16;

Fig. 18 is a simplified equivalent circuit diagram of a radiation imaging apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention;

19 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a relationship between a pixel region on a substrate and peripheral circuits of a radiation image device according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 20 is another simplified equivalent circuit diagram of a radiation detection apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention, and this circuit is different from the circuit shown in FIG. 13;

21 is a plan view of pixels of a radiation detection apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention;

Fig.22 is a section taken along the line 22-22 in Fig.16;

Figures 23A and 23B are schematic views of configurations illustrating an example of mounting a radiation imaging (x-ray) device in the housing of the present invention, with FIG. 23A showing a plan view, FIG. 23B is a sectional view;

24 is a view illustrating an example application of a radiation imaging apparatus according to the present invention in a radiation imaging system;

25 is a plan view illustrating pixels of a radiation detection apparatus according to an eighth embodiment of the present invention; and

Fig.26 is a section taken along the line 26-26 in Fig.25.

The implementation of the invention

Below with reference to the attached drawings will be described preferred embodiments of the present invention. Although the following embodiments will be described with reference to cases of constructing a radiation detection device, the radiation detection device of the present invention is not limited to a radiation detection device converting radiation such as X-rays, alpha rays, gamma rays, and the like into electrical carriers current, and can also be used as a photoelectric conversion device that converts light, such as visible light, infrared light, etc., into electrical persecuted. In addition, the radiation imaging device is a device including a substrate of sensitive elements and peripheral circuits, which can be perceived as a radiation detection device.

(First Embodiment)

First, a first embodiment of the present invention is described.

Figures 1-3 are respectively a plan view, a section of pixels of a radiation detection apparatus and a simplified equivalent circuit diagram of a radiation imaging apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

The essence of the present invention lies in the fact that many insulating films are located between the switching elements and the converter elements, and that at least one of the gate wiring and the signal wiring is located in the area located between the insulating films. Moreover, this applies to all embodiments.

1 is a plan view of pixels of a radiation detection apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 1 is a schematic top view illustrating a pixel portion consisting of two rows and two columns of an effective pixel region, where the pixels, in each of which there is a coupling of a conversion element converting radiation into an electrical signal (electric current carriers), with a switching element are located on an insulating substrate to form a matrix.

The conversion element according to the present embodiment is a semiconductor conversion element made, for example, of hydrogenated amorphous silicon, which converts light such as visible light, infrared light and the like, and radiation such as X-ray, gamma rays and etc., into electric current carriers. For example, when a photoelectric conversion element that converts light, such as visible light and the like, into an electrical signal, but does not directly convert any radiation, such as X-rays, etc., is used as a semiconductor conversion element, then a phosphor layer is arranged on the photovoltaic conversion element as a wavelength-converting layer (scintillator) that converts radiation into light, such as visible light, which can Be converted by photoelectric method.

1, a thin film transistor, which is a switching element, has three electrodes, one electrode 123 (source electrode), another electrode 124 (drain electrode) and gate electrode 136. The signal wiring 121, connected to the block of signal processing circuits that carry out the process of reading the accumulated electric current carriers, is connected to the electrode 123 of the source of the thin-film transistor. In addition, the gate wiring 122 connected to the gate driver circuitry controlling the on or off of the thin film transistor is connected to the gate electrode 136 of the thin film transistor. The channel portion 125 of the thin film transistor is located between the source electrode 123 and the drain electrode 124, and the passage or termination of the movement of electric current carriers through the channel portion 125 can be controlled by adjusting the voltage of the gate electrode 136.

The gate wiring 122 is usually connected to thin film transistors of a plurality of pixels arranged in a row direction, and the signal wiring 121 is usually connected to thin film transistors of a plurality of pixels arranged in a column direction.

In this case, “row direction” and “column direction” are expressions related to the arrangement of a plurality of pixels to form a two-dimensional matrix, and from this point of view, the row and column can be mutually replaced. Namely: the direction of the gate wiring 122 can be considered as the direction of the columns, and the direction of the signal wiring can be considered as the direction of the rows.

The semiconductor converter element consists of a lower electrode 126, a light receiving region 128, an offset wiring region 127, and is located on the upper surface of the thin film transistor. The bottom electrode 126 is connected to the drain electrode 124 through a through hole.

The signal wiring 121 is located under the lower electrode 126 and is connected to the source electrode 123 located on an additional lower part with respect to the signal wiring 121, through a through hole. However, there is no need for the bottom electrode 126 of the semiconductor converter element and the signal wiring 121 to overlap each other in a two-dimensional manner, as shown in FIG. 1, and if necessary, they can be arranged without overlapping each other. The signal wiring 121 is located so that it is between an insulating film located under the lower electrode 126 and an insulating film covering a portion of a thin film transistor consisting of a source electrode, a drain electrode, and the like.

Figure 2 presents the cross section obtained along the line 2-2 in figure 2. A semiconductor converter element is shown in its upper part, and a thin-film transistor is shown in its lower part. Figure 2 shows an example of the location of the wiring in the area located to reduce the capacity of the signal wiring between the first insulating film and the second insulating film above the source electrode or drain electrode.

The semiconductor converter element in the upper part is a metal-insulator-semiconductor semiconductor converter element, consisting of a fourth metallization layer 108, an insulating film 110 of a semiconductor converter element, a second high-resistance semiconductor layer 111, and a second impurity semiconductor layer 112, which is ohmic a contact layer, and a transparent electrode layer 113. The semiconductor converter element may Carry out photovoltaic conversion of light such as visible light, etc. The thin-film transistor at the bottom consists of the following components: a first metallization layer 101 located on an insulating substrate, an insulating gate film 102 located on top of the first metallization layer 101, the first semiconductor layer 103 with a high resistance located on top of the gate insulating film 102 of the first impurity semiconductor layers 104 located on top of the first semiconductor layer 103 with a high resistance and second metallization layers 105 located on top of the first impurity semiconductor layers. The first insulating film 106 and the second insulating film 109 are located between the portion of the thin film transistor and the semiconductor converter element, and the third metallization layers 107 are located on top of the second metallization layers 105. The phosphor layer 116 is located on top of the protective layer 117.

A transparent electrode layer 113, made of, for example, indium oxide and tin oxide or the like, is located on top of the second impurity semiconductor layer 112. When the second impurity semiconductor layer 112 has a low resistance, the second impurity semiconductor layer 112 can also be used as the electrode layer , and a transparent electrode layer 113 is not necessary. The fifth metallization layers 114 are bias wiring designed to apply voltage to the transparent electrode layer 113 and connected to a common electrode driver located outside the substrate. Because of this, although the fifth metallization layers 114 are located on top of the transparent electrode layer 113, touching the electrode 113, the fifth metallization layers 114 can be arranged so as to be covered by the transparent electrode layer 113. In addition, the offset wiring can be located in the pixel anywhere. However, in the case of a semiconductor conversion element that converts radiation into visible light in order to convert visible light into electric current carriers by a second high-resistance semiconductor layer 111, light can be received by the entire surface of the region in which the electric current carriers are easily collected when the bias wiring is located in the region where the fourth metallization layer 108, which is the lower electrode of the semiconductor converter element, is not located. As a consequence, a semiconductor converter element is even more preferred.

The signal wiring 121 shown in FIG. 1 is formed from the third metallization layer 107 shown in FIG. 2 and is located in a region located between the first insulating film 106 and the second insulating film 109. As a result, when, for example, a film having the thin film thickness and a high relative dielectric constant are used as the first insulating film 106 or the second insulating film 109, the film forms a large capacitance with the lower electrode of the semiconductor converter element made a fourth layer of metallization disposed on the top. In addition, the film forms a large capacity with a gate wiring (not shown) connected to the gate electrode made of the first metallization layer 101 at the intersection with the gate wiring. Therefore, it is preferable that the first insulating film 106 and the second insulating film 109 can be formed having a large thickness and a low dielectric constant. In the present embodiment, an insulating film made of an organic material having a low relative dielectric constant is used. As an organic material, a material such as a polyimide resin, acrylic resin or the like, which has a good thermal resistance characteristic, is preferred. In addition, a material having a relative dielectric constant within the range of about 2.5 to about 4 is preferred. It is preferable that the layer thickness for the insulating film made of organic material be 1 μm or more even in the region where the film thickness is small. However, for example, a silicon oxide film having a relative dielectric constant within the range of from about 3.5 to about 4.5, and a silicon nitride film that has a relative dielectric constant within the range of from about 5, can be formed as thick films. 5 to about 7.5 and good insulating ability, moreover, these films have relatively low relative dielectric constants among inorganic materials. Thus, it becomes possible to reduce the capacitance of the gate wiring intersecting with the signal wiring, and the capacitance of the semiconductor converter element located in the upper part, and the signal wiring.

At the same time, since an insulating film having a thickness of 1 μm or more and made, for example, of the organic material mentioned above, is located at the intersection of the signal wiring and the gate wiring, the capacitance can be significantly reduced. In addition, there is a signal wiring 121, which is located in the area between the first insulating film 106 and the second insulating film 109. Even provided that there is a gate wiring 122, shown in figure 1, the capacitance formed by the gate wiring 122 and the signal wiring 121 may be reduced, and capacitance with respect to the semiconductor converter element may also be reduced. In the case where the gate wiring 122 is located, like the third metallization layer 107, in the region located between the first insulating film 106 and the second insulating film 109, the gate wiring 122 is formed from the first metallization layer 101 passing through the through hole. But at the same time, the signal wiring 121 is formed from the same metallization layer as the source electrode and the drain electrode of the thin-film transistor.

In the case of using an insulating film made of organic material, the insulating film can be easily formed in the case of using, for example, a photosensitive polyimide resin or a photosensitive acrylic resin and the use of technological operations (1) the formation of an insulating film of organic material, (2) exposure, ( 3) manifestation and removal; and (4) annealing. In addition, for the upper part, a structuring method can be used by using the photolithographic method using a photosensitive resist and removing it, for example, by dry etching.

In addition, although the semiconductor converter element at the top is described as a metal-insulator-semiconductor semiconductor converter element shown in FIG. 2, a pin-type semiconductor converter element consisting of an n-type semiconductor layer, a second semiconductor layer, can be used. with high resistance and p-type semiconductor layer. At the same time, in the case of a p-i-n-type semiconductor converter element, when the resistances of the p-type semiconductor layer and the n-type semiconductor layer are small, similarly, the p-type semiconductor layer and the n-type semiconductor layer can also be used as electrode layers. In addition, amorphous selenium, cadmium telluride and the like, which directly convert radiation and which directly convert radiation to electric current carriers, can be used as a semiconductor conversion element.

Figure 3 presents a simplified equivalent circuit diagram of the connections of the radiation imaging device shown in figures 1 and 2.

The radiation image forming apparatus is an example of a radiation image forming apparatus consisting of pixels arranged to form a matrix, a substrate including a gate wiring or a signal wiring, each including a series of buses corresponding to rows and columns respectively, a signal processing circuit unit , a block of gate exciter circuits and a block of common electrode exciter circuits, each of which is located near the substrate. Each pixel is formed by a pair of a semiconductor converter element and a thin film transistor.

Pixels are arranged on the substrate 160 to form a matrix, in each of which a thin-film transistor portion 152 and a semiconductor converter element portion 153 are connected to each other. The gate wiring 154 and the signal wiring 155 are connected to the thin film transistor portion 152, and the bias wiring 157 from the common electrode driver circuit block 156 is connected to the semiconductor converter element portion 153.

The signal wiring 155 is connected to S1-S6 of the signal processing circuitry unit 150 located outside the substrate 160, and the image is formed by reading the electric current carriers formed in the semiconductor converter element portion 153 using the thin-film transistor unit 152. The gate wiring 154 is connected to a block 151 of exciter circuits with a gate located similarly outside the substrate 160, and the voltages at the gate electrodes are regulated using G1-G6 to control the on / off control of the thin film transistor blocks 152. Block 156 circuits of the common pathogen of the electrodes regulates the voltage supplied to the semiconductor converting elements, and, in particular, provides voltage on the semiconductor layers with high resistance in the semiconductor converting elements. At the same time, for example, it is possible to select an offset for carrying out depletion of carriers and an offset for carrying out accumulation of carriers and adjust the magnitude of the applied voltages in order to regulate the electric field strength. In particular, in the case of using a metal-insulator-semiconductor semiconductor converter element, it is necessary to regulate the voltage to remove holes or electrons at the interface of the insulating film and the high-resistance semiconductor layer after reading the electric current carriers, and the voltage is regulated by block 156 of the general circuit pathogen electrodes.

Although in FIG. 3 each bias wiring line 157 is located at the center of each of the semiconductor converter element blocks 153, it can be considered that the buses are actually located in areas where the fourth metallization layers 108, which are the lower electrodes of the semiconductor converter elements, are not located.

Two blocks 150 of signal processing circuits and two blocks 151 of gate driver circuits can be located on the upper and lower sides and on the left and right sides, respectively. In the case of the arrangement of blocks 150 of the signal processing circuits on the upper and lower sides, the signal wiring 121 can be divided in the center into two parts, for example, for regulating the signals of the upper half by means of the signal processing circuits on the upper side and for regulating the signals of the lower half by means of the signal processing circuits on the underside. In the case where the gate driver circuit blocks 151 are located on the right and left sides, the gate wiring 122 may be split in the center into two parts or the gate wiring 122 may be connected on the left side.

(Second Embodiment)

A second embodiment of the present invention is described.

Figures 4 through 10 are plan and sectional views of a radiation detection device according to a second embodiment of the present invention and simplified equivalent circuit diagrams of a radiation detection device.

The essence of the present embodiment is that the plurality of signal wiring buses are connected to the plurality of pixels of one column, and that the plurality of pixels of the same column are distributed to each signal wiring bus so that each signal wiring bus is connected to the thin film transistors of the distributed pixels .

4 is a plan view of pixels of a radiation detection apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic top view illustrating a pixel portion consisting of two rows and two columns in an effective pixel region, where the pixels, in each of which are connected a conversion element that converts radiation into an electrical signal, and a switching element are located on an insulating substrate with the formation of the matrix. Four signal wiring buses are located. The pixels of one column are distributed in two in order and correspond to the signal bus lines of the two systems.

The semiconductor converter elements according to the present embodiment are also semiconductor converter elements that convert radiation into electrical signals. In the case of using photovoltaic converting elements that convert light, such as visible light, into electrical signals, the phosphor layer is located on top of the photovoltaic converting elements.

Thin-film transistors that are switching elements are described. Each of one group of them is a thin-film transistor, which consists of three electrodes, a first source electrode 131, a first drain electrode 132 and a first gate electrode 138, which are located on an insulating substrate. Each of the other groups represents a thin-film transistor, which consists of three electrodes, a second source electrode 133, a second drain electrode 134 and a second gate electrode 139. Thin-film transistors are subdivided into these two systems of thin-film transistors. The pixels of each column are distributed in two groups in order, and two signal wiring buses connected to a block 150 of signal processing circuits performing the process of reading the accumulated electric current carriers are located in each column. Namely, the signal wiring lines are divided into a first signal wiring 129 connected to the first source electrode 131 and a second signal wiring 130 connected to the second source electrode 133. In addition, the gate driving circuit unit 151 that controls turning on or off the thin film transistors is connected to a first gate wiring 140 connected to a first gate electrode 138 and to a second gate wiring 141 connected to a second gate electrode 139. A channel portion 125 of a thin film transistor is provided between each source electrode and each drain electrode, and it is possible to control the passage of electric current carriers through the channel portion 125 and stop the passage by adjusting the voltage of each gate electrode.

The semiconductor converter element consists of a lower electrode 126, a light receiving region 128, and a bias wiring 127 and is located on top of the upper surfaces of the thin film transistor. Of the lower electrodes 126, two lower electrodes located on the upper side of the view are connected to the first drain electrodes 132 through the through holes, and two lower electrodes located on the lower side of the view are connected to the second drain electrodes 134 through the through holes.

After radiation has been carried out, and electric current carriers have accumulated in pixels in accordance with the radiation dose, the information is transmitted through thin-film transistors to the signal processing circuit unit 150. In this case, to increase the number of signals that can be transmitted simultaneously, the signal wiring buses are divided into two systems. 4, the signal wiring connected to the first electrodes 131 of the sources of thin film transistors connected to the first gate wiring 140 is defined as the first signal wiring 129. The signal wiring connected to the second electrodes 133 of the sources of thin film transistors connected to the second gate wiring 141 is defined as the second signal wiring 130. The first gate wiring 140 and the second gate wiring 141 are connected to each other on the substrate to the block 151 of the gate driver circuits, and part of the gate wiring 140 and 141 are configured such that excitation can be transmitted simultaneously. When a voltage including thin-film transistors is simultaneously applied to both parts of the gate wiring 140 and 141, the four thin-film transistors shown in FIG. 4 are turned on simultaneously, and the electric current carriers can be completely read from the four signal wiring buses as the first signal wiring 129 , and the second signal wiring 130.

In the presented form, each signal wiring is located under the lower electrodes 126 and is connected to each of the source electrodes 131 and 133 located even lower than each of the signal wiring 129 and 130 through the through holes. Each of the signal wiring 129 and 130 is located so that it is between an insulating film located under the lower electrodes 126 and an insulating film covering portions of thin film transistors, such as each of the source electrodes 131 and 133 and each of the drain electrodes 132 and 134.

Figure 5 presents the cross section obtained along the line 5-5 in figure 4. A semiconductor converter element is shown in its upper part, and a thin-film transistor is shown in its lower part. Figure 5 shows an example in which the wiring is located in the area between the first insulating film and the second insulating film above the source electrode or drain electrode, thereby reducing the capacity of the signal wiring.

The description regarding sections such as those shown in FIG. 2 is omitted.

The semiconductor converter element in the upper part is a metal-insulator-semiconductor semiconductor converter element, consisting of a fourth metallization layer 108, an insulating film 110 of a semiconductor converter element, a second high-resistance semiconductor layer 111, and a second impurity semiconductor layer 112, which is ohmic a contact layer, and a transparent electrode layer 113. The semiconductor converter element may Undertake photovoltaic conversion of light, such as visible light. The fifth metallization layers 114 are bias wiring for applying voltage to the transparent electrode layer 113, and it is connected to a common electrode driver 156 located outside the substrate.

Each of the signal wirings 129 and 130 shown in FIG. 4 is formed from the third metallization layers 107 shown in FIG. 5 and is located in a region between the first insulating film 106 and the second insulating film 109. Therefore, it is preferred that each of the first insulating film 106 and the second insulating film 109 had a thick film thickness and a low dielectric constant, and that in the present embodiment, an insulating film made of an organic material having a low relative itelnuyu dielectric constant. Preferably, the organic material is one having a good thermal resistance characteristic, such as polyimide resin, acrylic resin or the like, and it is preferable that the relative dielectric constant be low, in the range of about 2.5 to about 4. It is preferred that the thicknesses the layers of each of the insulating films 106 and 109 made of organic material were 1 μm or more.

By this, even if the signal wiring is divided into two systems, and it has a double number of buses compared to the number for the conventional arrangement shown in FIG. 4, it is possible to prevent an increase in capacitance between the signal wiring and each gate bus intersecting with the signal wiring wiring, and capacitance between the semiconductor converting elements located in the upper part, and each bus signal wiring. As a result, it is possible to increase the number of signals that can be received simultaneously, as described above, without increasing the gate wiring time constant, which is determined by the capacitance and resistance of the gate wiring, and therefore a radiation imaging device can be obtained that can be excited with a higher speed.

In addition, although the semiconductor converter element in the upper part is described as a metal-insulator-semiconductor semiconductor converter element shown in FIG. 5, a pin-type semiconductor converter element can be used in a similar way, or can be used as a semiconductor converter element amorphous selenium, cadmium telluride or similar materials that directly convert radiation.

Figure 6 presents a simplified equivalent circuit diagram of the connection of the radiation imaging device shown in figures 4 and 5.

In Fig.6. an example of a radiation imaging device is shown, consisting of a substrate on which pixels are arranged to form a matrix, a gate wiring, the number of buses of which is equivalent to the number of rows, and a signal wiring, the number of buses of which is two times the number of columns; block signal processing circuits; block of gate exciter circuits; and a block of circuits of the common pathogen of the electrodes, while these blocks of circuits are located near the substrate. Each of the pixels consists of a semiconductor converter element and a thin film transistor, both of which are connected to each other.

Pixels are arranged on the substrate 160 to form a matrix, each of which consists of a portion 152 of a thin-film transistor and a portion 153 of a semiconductor converter element, both of which are connected to each other. The gate wiring 154 and the signal wiring 155 are connected to the thin film transistor portion 152, and the bias bus 157 from the common electrode driver circuit block 156 is connected to the semiconductor converter element portion 153 153. The g11 and g12 buses, the g21 and g22 buses, and the gate buses g31 and g32 the wiring 154 are individually interconnected, and each of the buses g11, g12, g21, g22, g31, and g32 may be controlled by the gate driver circuit unit 151 through the three parts of the wiring G1-G3. For example, when the switching voltage of the thin-film transistor is applied to the wiring G1, then the switching voltage of the thin-film transistor is simultaneously applied to the gate buses g11 and g12 154. In this case, electric current carriers can be read simultaneously from both bus groups s12, s22, s32, ... signal wiring that are connected to thin-film transistors connected to the bus g11, and bus s11, s21, s31, ... signal wiring, which are connected to thin-film transistors connected to the bus g12, through bl OKA 150 signal processing circuits. As a result, excitation can be carried out at a high speed.

FIG. 7 is a plan view illustrating pixels of a radiation detection apparatus according to a second embodiment, and it is a schematic plan view illustrating pixels from an example other than the example shown in FIG. 4.

The radiation detection device differs from the radiation detection device shown in FIG. 4 in that the light receiving regions of the semiconductor converting elements located in the upper part are arranged such that at least a portion of the source electrodes, drain electrodes and gate electrodes of the thin film transistors are excluded and channel sections.

For example, the radiation detection device differs from the radiation detection device shown in FIG. 4 in that aperture portions 137 of the light receiving regions are formed in it, and in that each of the source electrodes and each of the drain electrodes are individually larger. In the process of manufacturing a thin-film transistor, defects are likely to occur. In this case, the influence of pixels including defects can be eliminated by vaporizing portions of thin film transistors by, for example, laser radiation to electrically separate pixels including defects. In this case, the information of the pixels including defects can be eliminated by correcting when using the information in the environment of the pixels. In this case, it is necessary to remove the light-receiving region in advance, which easily absorbs light in order to quickly detect defective areas and open each source electrode and each drain electrode to evaporate them.

On Fig presents a section obtained along the line 8-8 in Fig.7.

On Fig shows a semiconductor converter element in its upper part and a thin-film transistor in its lower part. Fig. 8 shows an example in which each part of the signal wiring 129 and 130 is located in a region located between the first insulating film 106 and the second insulating film 109 above the source electrode 131 and the drain electrode 132, and in which the light receiving region is reduced to reduce the signal wiring capacity open over a thin film transistor.

The description of the sections, the same as those shown in FIG. 5, is omitted.

The second high-resistance semiconductor layer 111, which is located above the thin-film transistor and which especially absorbs light, is removed only in the area directly above the thin-film transistor. Although here the insulating film 110 of the semiconductor converter element is actually left rather than removed, the insulating film 110 can be removed simultaneously with the removal of the second high-resistance semiconductor layer 111. When such a configuration is adopted, it becomes possible before the phosphor layer is placed to evaporate the defective sections by laser radiation to subsequently form the phosphor layer on the protective layer 117 and to ensure high yield.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, when the second high-resistance semiconductor layer 111 is located over the entire surface, evaporation of the portion by laser radiation to eliminate the defect creates a defect in the second high-resistance semiconductor layer 111, affecting the environment of the defect. Therefore, it is necessary to remove the second semiconductor layer 111 in all areas where laser irradiation is performed. Such a configuration can be applied not only to a semiconductor converter element with a metal-insulator-semiconductor structure, but also to the p-i-n-type semiconductor converter element mentioned above, and can also be applied when directly converting material is used. In addition, although the second high-resistance semiconductor layer 111 is removed in almost the same area as the portion where the gate electrode made of the first metallization layer 101 shown in FIG. 8 is located, it is preferred that the high-resistance semiconductor layer 111 was opened in a slightly wider area than the first metallization layer 101, so that laser irradiation was stable.

9 is a plan view illustrating pixels of a radiation detection apparatus according to a second embodiment.

Fig. 9 is a schematic plan view illustrating an example of pixels different from the pixels shown in Figures 4 and 7. Fig. 9 shows a pixel portion consisting of three rows and two columns in an effective pixel region in which the pixels are each which includes a thin film transistor and a semiconductor converter element coupled to the thin film transistor, are arranged to form a matrix. As for the difference from the pixel part shown in figure 4, it consists in the placement of six bus signal wiring. The pixels in one row are distributed in order in three sections and correspond to three signal bus systems.

The pixel part differs from the pixel part shown in figures 4 and 7 in that the three buses of the first signal wiring 129, the second signal wiring 130 and the third signal wiring 135 are arranged in one column, and therefore, that six signal wiring lines are provided in pixels arranged to form a matrix of three rows and two columns. In addition, there are three buses of the first gate wiring 140, the second gate wiring 141 and the third gate wiring 142. Each signal wiring shown in Fig. 9 is located in an area between organic materials having an individually low relative dielectric constant, and therefore , the capacitance formed between the signal wiring and the wiring in the vicinity or the semiconductor converter elements in the upper part can be reduced. By this, even if the signal wiring is divided into three systems, and the number of bus bars is three times larger than in the normal case, an increase in the capacitance of each gate wiring intersecting with these signal wiring bars can be prevented. In addition, with regard to signal wiring, since the number of thin-film transistors connected to one signal wiring bus is reduced, capacitances formed between source electrodes and gate electrodes in portions of thin-film transistors become smaller, and the total signal wiring capacitance can also be made small .

As a result, the degree of freedom of the pattern formation method around each wiring increases and it becomes possible to form a pattern around a plurality of buses in pixels arranged in one row or one column. And at the same time, as mentioned above, the number of signals that can be received without increasing the time constant of the gate wiring, which is formed by the capacitance and resistance of the gate wiring, can be increased. Therefore, a radiation detection device can be obtained that can be excited at a higher speed. Although the number of bus lines for signal wiring is three times larger than the usual case shown in Fig. 9, the number of bus bars for signal wiring can be many times greater, for example, four times as much, five times as much, etc. In addition, when the capacitance between the gate wiring and the signal wiring is formed on a large part of the thin-film transistor section, in this configuration the number of thin-film transistors connected to one gate wiring bus or one signal wiring bus decreases to 1/4, 1/5, and so on. Further. Therefore, this configuration further reduces the capacity of each tire.

Figure 10 presents a conceptual simplified equivalent circuit diagram of the connections of the radiation imaging device shown in figure 9, and its peripheral circuits.

Figure 10 shows an example of a radiation imaging device consisting of a substrate including pixels arranged to form a matrix, a gate wiring corresponding to the number of rows, and signal wiring, the number of buses of which is three times the number of columns; block signal processing circuits; block of gate exciter circuits; and a block of circuits of the common pathogen of the electrodes, while the blocks of circuits are located in the vicinity. A semiconductor converter element and a thin film transistor are connected in a pixel.

On the substrate 160, pixels, in each of which the thin-film transistor portion 152 and the semiconductor converter element portion 153 are connected to each other, are arranged to form a matrix. The gate wiring 154 and the signal wiring 155 are connected to the thin film transistor portions 152, and the bias pin 157 from the common electrode driver circuit block 156 is connected to the semiconductor converter cell portions 153. Three busbars g11-g13 and three busbars g21-g23 of gate wiring 154 are mutually connected in each group, and they can be controlled by blocking gate driver circuits 151 via two buses G1 and G2. For example, when the turn-on voltage of the thin-film transistor is applied to the bus G1, then the turn-on voltage of the thin-film transistor is applied to the bus lines g11, g12, and g13 of the gate wiring 154. In this case, the electric current carriers in three lines can be read simultaneously. The electric current carriers of the first line are read from the bus lines s12, s22, s32, ... of the signal wiring, which are connected through the thin-film transistors to the bus g11. Carriers of electric current of the second line are read from bus lines s11, s21, s31, ... of signal wiring, which are connected via bus thin-film transistors to bus g12. In this case, the carriers of the electric current of the third row are read from the bus lines s13, s23, s33, ... of the signal wiring, which are connected through the thin-film transistors to the bus g13. The signal processing circuit 150 can simultaneously read electrical current carriers from all signal wiring buses. Therefore, it becomes possible to carry out excitation at a high speed.

In addition, in a radiation detection device of this configuration by placing a signal wiring in a region located between the first insulating film 106 and the second insulating film 109 mentioned above, the increase in capacitance can be made small. Consequently, a pattern with a high degree of freedom becomes possible around the wiring, and the method of creating a pattern around the wiring can be changed to make it possible to obtain a radiation detection device capable of processing an image moving at high speed with low noise.

(Third Embodiment)

Figures 11 through 13 are a plan view and a sectional view illustrating pixels of a radiation detection device according to a third embodiment of the present invention, and a simplified equivalent connection diagram of a radiation image forming apparatus.

According to a third embodiment, a radiation detection device is provided that includes two transistors in a pixel to enable high-speed excitation and to allow radiography of a moving image. The essence of the present embodiment lies in the fact that the pixels, each of which includes one semiconductor converter element and two thin film transistors connected to the semiconductor converter element, are placed in a two-dimensional way, and that two thin film transistors are used for the purpose, for example, transfer of electric current carriers by one of them and dumping by another. According to the present embodiment, it becomes possible, for example, to reset pixels whose transmission of electric current carriers is completed, at the same time as the electric current carriers of a certain pixel are transmitted.

In the formation of pixels having such a configuration, it is necessary that the number of gate bus lines connected to thin-film transistors is two times greater than the number of buses in the case when thin-film transistors are not provided for reset, and the pixel structure is implemented in the usual configuration. Therefore, the number of gate bus lines intersecting with the signal wiring increases, and the signal wiring capacity increases. In the case of registering a moving image by exciting the radiation detection device at a high speed, it is necessary to reduce the radiation exposure index to a lower limit in order to reduce the human radiation dose. However, as the signal wiring capacitance increases, the noise of the detection device increases, degrading the image quality at low radiation intensities. As a result, this leads to the need to increase the exposure index in radiation.

In addition, since not only the signal wiring, but also the discharge wiring intersects with each gate wiring bus, when the wiring intersects each gate wiring bus, the number of tires intersecting with each gate wiring bus increases, leading to an increase in the gate wiring capacity. As a result, the gate time constant becomes larger, which makes it impossible to increase the excitation rate.

Accordingly, the description is given for a configuration with the arrangement of two thin-film transistors for the purpose of realizing high-speed excitation in relation to a moving image according to the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, a configuration is adopted that makes it possible to obtain a radiation detection device capable of radiography of a moving image, at high excitation speed and low noise, with a significant reduction in capacitance between each gate wiring bus and a signal wiring or reset wiring in the case of a configuration with two thin-film transistors.

11 is a top view illustrating the present embodiment, and it shows pixels, in each of which two thin-film transistors, which are switching elements, and a semiconductor converter element are connected to each other. The signal wiring 155 connected to the block of signal processing circuits is connected to the first thin film transistors 170. In addition, the reset wiring for resetting the electric current carriers stored in the pixels is connected to the second thin film transistors 171. In addition, the first gate wiring 172 connected to the a first gate driver circuit 175 that controls the first thin film transistors 170 is connected to the first gate electrode. The second gate wiring 173 connected to the second gate driver circuit 176, which controls the second thin film transistors 171, is connected to the second gate electrode. In addition, the semiconductor converting elements are connected with both the first thin-film transistors 170 and the second thin-film transistors 171. By using such pixels shown in a plan view, it becomes possible to simultaneously transmit electric current carriers from the semiconductor converting elements to a signal processing circuit via signal wiring 155 and reset operation of the remaining electric current carriers accumulated in pixels, transfer of the medium electric current which is completed. For example, the present embodiment is configured such that it is possible to discharge the remaining electric current carriers of the semiconductor converting elements, to read the electric current carriers, the accumulation of which is completed, by the reset wiring 174 on the lower side of FIG. 11, along with reading the electric current carriers stored in the semiconductor converter elements on the upper side of FIG. 11. As a result, it becomes possible to simultaneously carry out the reading and the reset operation, and therefore it becomes possible to achieve excitation at a high speed.

This is done to weaken the increase in the capacitance of each wiring, which becomes a problem in the case of applying a pixel configuration, each of which has two thin-film transistors. For example, the number of intersections of the signal wiring 155 with the gate wiring doubles as the number of gate wiring tires doubles. As a result, the capacity of the signal wiring 155 is increased, and this leads to an increase in the noise of the sensing elements.

In addition, it also follows from the type of gate wiring that the number of intersections of the wiring is doubled, since the gate wiring intersects not only the signal wiring, but also the reset wiring 174. As a result, the gate time constant increases to a greater extent than the time constant in the configuration equipped with one thin-film transistor per pixel, and it becomes necessary to lower the excitation speed of the exciter circuit.

Accordingly, a pixel configuration provided with two thin film transistors per pixel can be obtained without increasing the capacitance between the signal wiring and each gate wiring bus by forming, as shown in FIG. 12, insulating films to reduce the capacitances of intersecting sections, each of which has the thickness of the thick film at the intersection between each wiring. Therefore, a radiation imaging device can be obtained in which excitation can be carried out at high speed with low noise.

12 is a sectional view illustrating a portion along line 12-12 of FIG. 11. The thin-film transistor on the right side of FIG. 12 reflects the first thin-film transistor 170, and the thin-film transistor on the left side of FIG. 12 reflects the second thin-film transistor 171. As shown, the signal wiring made of the third metallization layers 107 is located in the upper part together with a thick insulating film located between the signal wiring and thin-film transistors. In addition, a reset wiring also has a similar configuration. As a result, the gate wiring and signal wiring can be located at a distance from each other, and it becomes possible to minimize the capacitance formed at the intersection of the wiring. As for the thick insulating film, it is desirable material to enable the formation of a thick film and having a small dielectric constant. For example, in the case of using an inorganic material, it is preferable to form a silicon oxide film or a silicon nitride film having a thickness of from about 1.0 μm to about 4.0 μm. In the case of using organic material, it is preferable to form a film having a thickness of, for example, from about 3.0 μm to about 10.0 μm.

13 is a simplified equivalent circuit diagram of a radiation imaging device including pixels, each of which has two thin film transistors and one semiconductor converter element, which are connected to each other. A first gate driver circuit 175 driving the first thin film transistors 170 for transmitting electric current carriers, and a second gate driver circuit 176 driving the second thin film transistors 171 for resetting pixels are located in the vicinity of the substrate. In addition, there are: a signal processing circuit 150 connected to the signal wiring 155, a reset control circuit unit 177 connected to the reset wiring 174, and a common electrode driver circuit 156 connected to the bias wiring 157. As for the pixels, although the pixels are shown simply as a matrix of five rows and four columns, in reality, the pixels consist, for example, of 1000 rows and 1000 columns.

By adopting the configuration indicated above, a radiation imaging device can be implemented including pixels, each of which is equipped with two thin film transistors and one semiconductor converter element coupled to two thin film transistors, and enabling high speed excitation with low noise .

(Fourth Embodiment)

A fourth embodiment of the present invention is described.

The essence of this embodiment is that an insulating film made of an organic material having a low relative dielectric constant is used as a suitable material for forming insulating films, and in addition to the first, second and third embodiments, with a control of the thickness of the films.

As for the organic material, a material such as a polyimide resin, acrylic resin or the like, having a good thermal resistance characteristic, and a material having a relative dielectric constant within the range of about 2.5 to about 4, is preferred, is preferred. if we keep in mind the relative dielectric constant. Preferably, the thickness of the layer of insulating film made of organic material is 1 μm or more, even in the region where the film thickness is small.

The greater the total thickness of the layer of insulating film made of organic material, the smaller the capacity can be made. However, the larger the total thickness of the insulating film layer becomes, the more difficult during the formation of the wiring by the photolithographic method, the processing of the wiring located in the region located between the semiconductor conversion layer located above the insulating film after the formation of the insulating film and the insulating film becomes. For example, when the total thickness of the insulating film layer becomes large in excess of 20 μm, a region is formed in which the adhesion capacity of the photosensitive photoresist is poor due to the formation of a large step during the application of the photoresist. In addition, the thickness of the resist film becomes larger only on a part of the recessed portion of the step, and the photoresist cannot be fully exposed during exposure, and the rest of the pattern is formed during the subsequent development process. This situation is also true for pixels, but, for example, at the boundary between the region where the insulating film is located and the region where the insulating film is not located, in the region outside the pixel region, the thickness of the resist film becomes larger only at the boundary part, and the remainder A pattern is formed along the border. For example, when such a residual pattern is formed during the structuring of a metal film and a transparent electrode, a short circuit occurs between the tires in the pattern. Therefore, it becomes difficult to carry out stable manufacturing using the photolithography process. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out the placement, controlling the thickness of the film, so that, depending on the application of the insulating film, it is thick to the necessary degree, and so that it is not excessively thin. In addition, it is necessary to make the total thickness of the insulating film layer 20 μm or less.

FIG. 14 shows a case where, in the present embodiment, an insulating film made of organic material is used as the first insulating film 106 and the second insulating film 109. As shown in FIG. 14, the layer thickness of the second insulating film 109 is made larger than the thickness of the layer of the first insulating film 106. For example, the thickness of the layer of the first insulating film 106 is made from about 1 μm to about 3 μm, and the thickness of the layer of the second insulating film 109 is made from about 2 μm to about 10 μm. This is to prevent the formation of large capacitance between the lower electrode of the semiconductor converter element made of the fourth metallization layer 108 and the signal wiring made of the third metallization layer 107 located directly below the lower electrode, since the area of the lower electrode is large. Therefore, the capacitance formed between the signal wiring and the lower electrode can be reduced by increasing the thickness of the layer of the second insulating film 109 located between the signal wiring and the lower electrode. In addition, the reason why the layer thickness of the first insulating film 106 is made small is because the area of the area where the signal wiring and the gate wiring (not shown) connected to the electrode gate made of the first metallization layer overlap with each other, much smaller than the area where the signal wiring overlaps with the lower electrode, as shown in FIG.

Since the capacity can certainly be reduced by increasing the thickness of the film, even if the area is small, then, in fact, the greater the thickness of the layer of the first insulating film 106, the smaller the capacity. However, when, for example, the thicknesses of the layers of the first insulating film 106 and the second insulating film 109 are made equal to 10 μm, the step of the pattern between the region in which both insulating films are located and the region in which both insulating films are not located becomes up to 20 μm . As a result, when the semiconductor converting elements are formed using the photolithographic method, after the formation of the insulating films 106 and 109, the remainder of the pattern is formed at the boundary portion where the insulating films 106 and 109 are structured. For example, there remains an electrically conductive film, such as an offset wiring made of a fifth metallization layer, an upper electrode of a semiconductor converter element made of a transparent electrode layer 113, and the like, and therefore, a short circuit is formed between the wiring, and it becomes impossible to manufacture stable radiation detection device.

Accordingly, according to the present embodiment, the thickness of the layer of the first insulating film 106 located between the gate wiring and the signal wiring is reduced, which form small containers to reduce a step at the boundary of the region in which the insulating films 106 and 109 are located, and the regions in which insulating films 106 and 109 are not located. Therefore, it is more preferable to form the first insulating film 106 and the second insulating film 109 so that they are light-blocking elements, such as a black resist, which does not transmit visible light.

Fig. 15 is a sectional view illustrating a boundary portion of the region where the first insulating film 106 and the second insulating film 109 shown in Fig. 14 are located, and the regions where they are not located.

The boundary positions of the ends of each of the plurality of insulating films 106 and 109 are different from each other, and the total film thickness varies in a stepwise manner. That is, the position of the boundaries of the region in which each of the insulating films 106 and 109 is located, and the region in which each of the insulating films 106 and 109 is not located, are different in the interval from the region in which the whole plurality of insulating films 106 and 109 are located, to the area in which none of the insulating films 106 and 109 is located.

As described above, the radiation imaging device can be manufactured with stable characteristics by reducing the thickness of the layer of insulating film in the region where the formed capacitance should be small. However, it is necessary to perform the structuring of the first insulating film 106 and the second insulating film 109 shown in Fig. 14, at different positions in order to exclude a step of positions for greater stability of the manufacturing process. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 15, by shifting the structuring sites of the first insulating film 106 and the second insulating film 109 in order to change the total film thickness with a stepwise pattern, the manufacturing process can be made more stable. Preferably, the distance T between the ends of the insulating films 106 and 109 shown in the view is at least equal to or greater than the thickness of the layer of the second insulating film 109. In addition, the second insulating film 109 may be formed so that it covers the end of the pattern of the first insulating film 106 shown in Fig. 15. In this case, during structuring using the photolithographic method, the second insulating film 109 is strongly influenced by the thickness of the layer of the first insulating film 106, and therefore it is preferable that the distance T between the ends of the insulating films 106 and 109 is at least equal to the thickness of the layer of the first insulating film 106 or there were more.

(Fifth Embodiment)

First, a fifth embodiment of the present invention is described.

Figures 16 and 17 are a plan view and a section of pixels of a radiation detection apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

The essence of the present embodiment is that the plurality of insulating films is equal to three or more, and that there are two or more regions located between the insulating films, and also that the wiring is formed from metallization layers that are different from each other .

On Fig presents a top view of the pixels of the radiation detection device according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 16 is a schematic plan view illustrating a pixel portion consisting of two rows and two columns of an effective pixel region, wherein pixels include conversion elements that individually convert radiation or light into an electrical signal and switching elements that are individually connected with each of the conversion elements located on an insulating substrate with the formation of the matrix.

The present embodiment differs from the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 in that the first signal wiring 129 and the second signal wiring 130 are formed from metallization layers different from each other, and in that both wiring 129 and 130 are formed from metallization layers, each of which is located between insulating films located between sections of thin-film transistors and sections of semiconductor converting elements.

On Fig presents a section obtained along the line 17-17 in Fig, and shows an example of the case of the formation of the signal wiring by using the same metallization layers of the source electrodes and the drain electrodes of thin-film transistors.

The description of the sections, the same as those shown in FIG. 5, is omitted.

A semiconductor converter element is shown at the top, and a thin film transistor is shown at the bottom. The semiconductor converter element in the upper part is a metal-insulator-semiconductor semiconductor converter element, consisting of a fifth metallization layer 114, an insulating film 110 of a semiconductor converter element, a second high-resistance semiconductor layer 111, a second impurity semiconductor layer 112, which is ohmic contact layer, and a transparent electrode layer 113. Light, for example, visible light, can be converted by photoelectric tricky way. The sixth metallization layers 118 are an offset wiring for supplying voltage to the transparent electrode layer 113, and they are connected to a common electrode driver located outside the substrate.

The first signal wiring 129 shown in FIG. 16 is formed from the third metallization layer 107 shown in FIG. 17 and is located in a region located between the first insulating film 106 and the second insulating film 109. In addition, the second signal wiring 130 shown in Fig.16, is formed from the fourth metallization layer 108 shown in Fig.17, and is located in the region located between the second insulating film 109 and the third insulating film 115.

As a result, an insulating film made of an organic material is individually used to produce a first insulating film 106, a second insulating film 109, and a third insulating film 115. As for the organic material, materials such as a polyimide resin, acrylic resin and the like having a good resistance characteristic are preferred, and as for the relative dielectric constant, a small constant of about 2.5 to 4 is preferred. Preferably, so that the layer thickness of each of the insulating films 106, 109 and 115 made of organic material is 1 μm or more.

By this, even if the signal wiring is divided into systems, and the number of buses placed is twice as many as the buses in the usual case shown in FIG. 4, an increase in the capacitance formed between the semiconductor converter element located in the upper part can be prevented and signal wiring 129 and 130. In addition, the degree of freedom of the pattern around the wiring increases, and, for example, the capacitance formed between the first signal wiring 129 and the second signal wiring 130 can also be reduced by changing Ia locations to provide the possibility of obtaining the formation of the radiation imaging apparatus with small noise, suitable for a moving image with high speed. In addition, in the case where the widths of the wiring lines are made thicker to reduce the wiring resistance, and in the case of a radiation detecting device by which it is possible to obtain a high definition image having a pixel pitch of, for example, from 50 μm to 160 μm, the effect of reduction capacitance is significant if the two parts of the signal wiring are made of metallization layers that are different from each other.

That is, a configuration of a radiation detection device is obtained in which, with an increase in the number of buses, it becomes possible to arrange a plurality of protective films for selectively placing the wiring in the protective films, and in which the wiring capacity can be reduced. In addition, it is possible that after the placement of the first insulating film 106 and the second insulating film 109, which are made of organic material, the substrate is not subjected to high-temperature processing, for example, at 300 ° C or higher. In this case, the gate wiring can be located in the region located between the first insulating film 106 and the second insulating film 109, and the signal wiring can be located in the region located between the second insulating film 109 and the third insulating film 115. In this case, as the gate wiring it is preferable to use aluminum, which has a small resistivity.

(Sixth Embodiment)

First, a sixth embodiment of the present invention is described.

Figures 18 to 22 show simplified equivalent connection diagrams of a radiation imaging apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention, a top view and a section of pixels.

The essence of the present embodiment lies in the fact that the plurality of signal wiring buses form to the plurality of pixels of one column, and that the plurality of consecutive pixels in a single column are associated with each signal wiring bus, and also that each signal wiring bus is connected to thin film transistor related pixel.

FIG. 18 is a simplified equivalent circuit diagram of a radiation imaging apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

The pixel region is divided into two zones, and the first signal wiring for reading image data from a zone consisting of three rows and six columns is separately placed at the top and the second signal wiring for reading image data from a zone consisting of three rows and six columns at the bottom. In addition, FIG. 18 shows a control structure carried out by a block of signal processing circuits and a block of gate driver circuits that are located on the same side.

Pixels are arranged on the substrate 160 to form a matrix, in each of which a thin-film transistor portion 152 and a semiconductor converter element portion 153 are connected to each other. The gate wiring 154, the first signal wiring 129, and the second signal wiring 130 are connected to the thin film transistor portions 152, and the bias wire 157 from the common electrode driver circuit block 156 is connected to the semiconductor converter cell sections 153.

The sixth embodiment differs from the first embodiment shown in FIG. 3 in that the signal wiring is divided into two parts consisting of a first signal wiring 129 and a second signal wiring 130. The first signal wiring 129 is connected to sections 152 of thin-film transistors connected to sections 153 of semiconductor converting elements consisting of three rows and six columns located in the upper part, and the second signal wiring 130 is connected to sections 152 of thin-film transistors, connected to sections 153 of semiconductor converting elements consisting of three rows and six columns located in the lower part. The second signal wiring 130 is connected to another metallization layer through the through holes 161 located in the Central part of the substrate, and stretched to the block 150 of the signal processing circuitry located outside the substrate.

As a result, a signal from a semiconductor converter element located in an area remote from the signal processing circuitry unit 150 can be transmitted to the signal processing circuitry unit 150 located on one specific side of the substrate 160. At the same time, by splitting the signal wiring into multiple zones for example, the number of thin-film transistors connected to one signal wiring bus and the number of sections intersecting with the gate wiring can be reduced, and the total capacitance with ignition wiring. In addition, by simultaneously driving the gate wiring located in the areas of the upper part and the lower part, a plurality of signals can be read at the same time, and it becomes possible to drive at high speed.

19 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a relationship between a pixel region on a substrate and peripheral circuits of a radiation imaging apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the invention.

On Fig shows the state of the connection of the region in which the semiconductor converting elements are located on the substrate together with blocks of signal processing circuits and blocks of gate exciter circuits located in the vicinity. FIG. 19 is a configuration example illustrating yet another configuration of a radiation detection device in which semiconductor converting elements are distributed across a plurality of zones, and, as shown in FIG. 18, a dedicated signal wiring is located in each zone.

In Fig. 19, semiconductor converter elements located on a substrate are distributed in four zones, zones 1-4, and a dedicated circuit is located in each zone. The first block 162 of signal processing circuits capable of receiving signals generated in two zones of the upper part, and the second block 163 of signal processing circuits capable of receiving signals generated in two zones of the upper part, are located outside the substrate. In addition, a first block 164 of gate driver circuits and a second block 165 of gate driver circuits that control the gate electrodes located in each zone are located. Although not shown in the diagram, the circuit block of the common electrode driver or a power source for applying voltage to the semiconductor converter elements is located in block 162 or 163 of the signal processing circuit or block 164 or 165 of the gate driver circuits mentioned above.

Roughly speaking, by dividing the pixel region into four, the number of thin-film transistors connected to one signal wiring bus can be reduced to 1/4. As a result, the capacitances formed between the source electrodes and the gate electrodes of the sections of thin-film transistors are significantly reduced, and therefore, the total capacitance of the signal wiring can be reduced. For example, in this case, the formed capacity of the wiring, stretched from zone 2 to the first signal processing circuit 162, can be reduced by placing organic materials, which are insulating films, on the upper part and the lower part of the wiring, at least at places intersecting zone 1 , even in the case when, for example, semiconductor converting elements are located above the wiring. Therefore, it is possible to make the total signal wiring capacity small while maintaining large aperture values of the semiconductor converter elements. In addition, by simultaneously driving four gate bus lines, each one of which is selected from each zone, it is also possible to carry out high-speed excitation to transmit signals to signal processing circuits at the same time.

As for the gate wiring, the first block of gate driver circuits 164 and the second block of gate driver circuits 165 may be jointly connected to the gate wiring located on the substrate, or may be separated from each other in the center to the left side and to the right side.

FIG. 20 is a simplified equivalent circuit diagram of a radiation imaging apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention, and it is a diagram illustrating another example different from the example shown in FIG. 18.

The example differs from the example shown in FIG. 18 in that the first signal wiring 129 extends to a zone of three rows and six columns at the bottom in which the first signal wiring 129 is not connected to the thin film transistors. This is done in order to make the time constants and the total capacitances of the first signal wiring 129 and the second signal wiring 130 as equal as possible. By adopting a configuration with the placement of organic materials on and below the wiring, the formation of a container with the surroundings can be weakened so that it is small, but the formation of a container cannot be completely excluded. Therefore, when the length of the wiring changes or the number of intersections changes, the total capacity related to the wiring changes. Deviation of the total capacitance leads to a change in the wiring time constant and wiring noise, and image information from semiconductor converting elements has a special character in each zone.

Consequently, a configuration is preferred in which a first signal wiring 129, which reads signals from the upper zone, is placed in the lower part relative to the through holes 161 between organic materials, which are weakly exposed to the environment and form small containers. In addition, a configuration is adopted in which a second signal wiring 130, which reads signals from the lower zone, is placed in the upper part relative to the through holes 161 in the central part between organic materials, which are weakly exposed to the environment and form small containers, and, in addition, the configuration is the same as used for the first signal wiring 129 in the lower zone. That is, the metallization layers of the first signal wiring 129 and the second signal wiring 130 are interchanged in the upper and lower zones relative to the through holes 161 as boundaries.

As a result, the total capacitances of the first signal wiring 129 and the second signal wiring 130 become equal to each other, and, for example, the wiring time constants and wiring noise can be the same in each zone. Therefore, when the radiation is converted into an image, the perception of image mismatch will be different in properties in each zone, and can probably be eliminated.

21 is a plan view of pixels of a radiation detection apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

On Fig presents a schematic top view illustrating the pixel part of 2 rows and 2 columns of the effective pixel region in which the pixels are arranged to form a matrix, with each of them a semiconductor conversion element that converts radiation into an electrical signal, and a thin film transistor are connected together.

All the electrodes 123 of the sources of four thin-film transistors located in the area consisting of two rows and two columns are connected to the first signal wiring 129, and the second signal wiring 130 is connected to the electrodes of the sources of thin-film transistors located in other zones. For this case, the first signal wiring 129 is formed at the same time that the source electrodes 123 are formed. A second signal wiring 130 that is not connected to thin film transistors in the zones shown in FIG. 21 is formed using another metallization layer located above the first signal wiring 129.

FIG. 22 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 22-22 of FIG. 21, and an example is shown for the case where the signal wiring is formed using the same metallization layers as the metallization layers of the source electrode and the drain electrode of the thin film transistor.

The description related to the areas same as those shown in FIG. 5 is omitted.

A semiconductor converter element is shown at the top, and a thin film transistor is shown at the bottom. The semiconductor converter element in the upper part is a metal-insulator-semiconductor semiconductor converter element, consisting of a fourth metallization layer 108, an insulating film 110 of a semiconductor converter element, a second high-resistance semiconductor layer 111, and a second impurity semiconductor layer 112, which is ohmic a contact layer, and a transparent electrode layer 113. The semiconductor converter element may Undertake photovoltaic conversion of light, such as visible light. The fifth metallization layers 114 are bias wiring for applying voltage to the transparent electrode layer 113, and the wiring is connected to a circuit block of a common electrode exciter located outside the substrate.

The first signal wiring 129 shown in FIG. 21 is formed from the second metallization layer 105 shown in FIG. 22 and is located in a region located between the gate insulating film 102 and the first insulating film 106. The second signal wiring 130 is formed from the third layer 107 metallization, shown in Fig.22, and is located in the area located between the first insulating film 106 and the second insulating film 109. As shown in the simplified equivalent circuit diagram in Fig.20, the bus of the first signal wiring 129 and the second signal wirings 130 are stretched with this arrangement, wherein the first signal wiring capacitance 129 and a second signal wiring are made equal. In this case, the second signal wiring 130 is connected to the source electrodes of the thin-film pixel transistors in other areas, and not in those shown in Fig. 21, and is formed from the second metallization layer 105. And in the areas shown in Fig.21, the second signal wiring 130 is not connected to thin-film transistors and is formed from a third metallization layer 107.

(Seventh Embodiment)

According to a seventh embodiment, a radiation detection device is provided that provides a moving image and includes two transistors per pixel, which makes it possible to drive at high speed. The essence of the present embodiment is that the pixels, each of which includes one semiconductor converter element and two thin film transistors connected to the semiconductor converter element, are arranged in a two-dimensional manner, for example, thin-film transistors are used in a manner in which one thin-film transistor a transistor is designed to transmit electric current carriers, and another thin-film transistor is designed to reset. According to the present embodiment, the configuration is made so that it is possible to obtain an image with a high speed and be able to perform a reset. As the material of thin-film transistors, it is preferable to use polycrystalline silicon, which allows high-speed transmission, since in this case, the transmission of electric current carriers and the discharge of electric current carriers can be performed simultaneously. At the same time, when the gate wiring of thin film transistors is made of refractory metal such as chromium, titanium, tantalum and the like, the wiring resistance is high. Therefore, when the wiring width is made large, the wiring capacity becomes large. Therefore, the gate wiring is arranged above the thin film transistor, wherein an insulating film is placed between the gate wiring and the thin film transistor, and thereby materials having a low resistivity, such as aluminum, copper, and the like, can be used. In this case, the signal wiring is connected to the source electrodes or the drain electrodes of the sections of thin-film transistors, or, in addition, the reset wiring is located above the gate wiring with an insulating film between them. In addition, semiconductor converter elements are arranged above these wiring sections with an insulating film between them. That is, gate electrodes, source electrodes and drain electrodes of sections of thin-film transistors are formed. An insulating film is then formed. After that, one of the parts of the gate wiring and signal wiring is formed, and after the formation of the insulating film, another part of the gate wiring and signal wiring is also formed. Then, after the insulating film is formed, semiconductor converting elements are arranged, and thereby the wiring resistance and the wiring capacitance can be reduced. Therefore, a low noise radiation imaging device that can be excited at high speed can be obtained. Therefore, an insulating film having a low dielectric constant and a thick film thickness is preferred for three insulating films. For example, in the case of using organic insulating films, capacitances between portions of thin-film transistors, gate wiring, signal wiring, reset wiring, and semiconductor converting elements can be reduced, and a radiation imaging device having small noise that can be excited at high speed can be obtained.

(Eighth Embodiment)

The following is a description of an eighth embodiment of the present invention.

In figures 25 and 26 are respectively a top view of the pixels of the radiation detection device according to the eighth embodiment of the present invention and their cross section.

The essence of the present invention lies in the fact that the number defining the plurality of insulating films is three or more, and in that the number of regions each of which is between the insulating films is two or more, and also that each is formed from another metallization layer.

On Fig presents a top view of the pixels of the radiation detection device according to the eighth embodiment of the present invention.

25 is a schematic plan view illustrating a pixel portion consisting of two rows and two columns of an effective pixel region including pixels arranged on top of a substrate to form a matrix, each of which includes a conversion element that converts radiation into an electrical signal , and a switching element associated with the converter element.

The present embodiment differs from the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 in that the gate electrode 136 and gate wiring 122 are formed of different metallization layers and are connected to each other in each pixel through the through holes 138.

On Fig presents a section obtained along the line 26-26 in Fig.25. A semiconductor converter element is shown at the top, and a thin film transistor is shown at the bottom. On Fig shows an example of a case when the signal wiring is formed by using the same metallization layer as for the source electrode and the drain electrode of a thin-film transistor.

The semiconductor converter element at the top is a metal-insulator-semiconductor converter element consisting of a fifth metallization layer 114, a second insulating film 110, a second high-resistance semiconductor layer 111, a second impurity semiconductor layer 112, which is an ohmic contact layer , and a transparent electrode layer 113. The semiconductor converter element can convert light such as see Wowed light. The sixth metallization layers 118 are an offset wiring for applying voltage to the transparent electrode layer 113, and it is connected to a common electrode driver located outside the substrate.

The signal wiring 121 shown in FIG. 25 is formed from the fourth metallization layer 108 shown in FIG. 26 and is located in a region located between the second insulating film 109 and the third insulating film 115. In addition, the gate electrode 136 shown in FIG. .25 is formed from the first metallization layer 101 shown in Fig. 26, and the gate wiring 122 is formed from the third metallization layer 107 (in the area shown as a dashed line in the second insulating film 109). In addition, the gate electrode 136 and the gate wiring 122 are connected through a through hole (in the portion shown in the drawing by the dashed line in the first insulating film 106). As a result, individually, as the first insulating film 106, the second insulating film 109 and the third insulating film 115, an insulating film made of organic material is used. As for the organic material, a material having a good thermal resistance characteristic, such as a polyimide resin, acrylic resin or the like, and having a small relative dielectric constant within the range of about 2.5 to about 4, is preferred. Such a configuration is preferred, for example in the case where the gate insulating film 102, which is the insulating film of the portion of the thin film transistor, is formed from a high temperature inorganic material at a temperature, for example, within the range of 300 ° C. to 350 ° C., in order to obtain a thin film transistor having high reliability, while the gate wiring is formed in the form of an aluminum wiring having a low resistivity.

In this case, it is assumed that the layer thickness and the relative dielectric constant of the first insulating film 106 are T1 and ε1, respectively, and that the layer thickness and the relative dielectric constant of the second insulating film 109 are T2 and ε2, respectively, and also that the layer thickness and the relative dielectric constant of the third insulating film layer 115 are T3 and ε3, respectively. As can be seen from FIG. 25, the maximum area of the intersecting areas of the electrically conductive metal films is the area between the gate wiring 122 and the lower electrode 126 (area S1), and the next is the area between the signal wiring 121 and the lower electrode 126 (area S2), and then the latter is the area between the signal wiring 121 and the gate wiring 122 (area S3). That is, capacities C1, C2 and C3 per unit area formed at each intersecting section are assumed to be such that when the ratio S1> S2> S3 is valid, then the ratio C1 <C2 <C3 may be valid.

When the thicknesses of the layers and the relative dielectric constants of the insulating films are made as mentioned above, it becomes possible to reduce the capacitances formed by the metallization layers, while the insulating films are formed with the smallest possible thicknesses.

The first to eighth embodiments of the present invention have been described above. The following is a description of an example of mounting in the housing of a radiation imaging device using the radiation detection device of the present invention and an example of application of a radiation imaging device in a radiation imaging system.

Figures 23A and 23B are schematic views of configurations illustrating an example of mounting in a case of a radiation imaging device using the radiation detection device (X-ray detection device) of the present invention. On figa presents a top view, and on figv presents a section.

A plurality of semiconductor converting elements, which are photovoltaic converting elements, and a plurality of thin film transistors are formed on the substrate 6011, and a flexible circuit substrate 6010 is connected to them, on which shift registers SR and detection integrated circuits 1C are mounted. The opposite side of the flexible circuit substrate 6010 is connected to the circuit substrates, PCB1 and PCB2. A plurality of sensitive element substrates 6011 are glued to the base 6012 to form a large conversion device. A lead plate 6013, designed to protect the storage devices 6014 and the circuit element 6019 from the x-ray in the processing circuit 6018, is mounted under the base 6012. A scintillator (phosphor layer) 6030 designed to convert the x-ray radiation into visible light, for example CsI, is deposited on the substrate 6011 sensitive elements. As shown in figv, all this is enclosed in a housing 6020 made of carbon fiber.

24 is a view illustrating an example application of a radiation imaging apparatus using the radiation detection apparatus of the present invention in a radiation imaging system.

X-ray radiation 6060, which is generated by X-ray tube 6050, is transmitted to the chest of a patient or person 6061 and transmitted to a radiation imaging device 6040 equipped with a scintillator (phosphor layer). Information about the internal structures of the patient's body 6061 is enclosed in transmitted x-ray radiation. The scintillator emits light in accordance with the transmitted x-ray radiation, and the light converted by the photoelectric method is recorded in the form of electrical information. This information is converted into digital information, and image acquisition based on digital information is carried out by the image processor 6070, which is a signal processing means. The processed information can be seen on the display 6080, which is installed in the hardware and is a display tool.

In addition, information can be transmitted to a remote location by means of transmission and processing, such as a telephone line 6090. Information can be displayed on a display 6081, which is a display device located in another place, such as a doctor’s office, and can be stored on means of registration, such as an optical disk. Thus, a doctor in a remote location can make a diagnosis. In addition, information can be recorded on a film, which is a recording medium, using a developing machine 6100, which is a recording means.

Since numerous, undoubtedly completely different embodiments of the present invention can be made without departing from the essence and scope of the invention, it should be understood that the scope of the invention is not limited to the specific variants of the invention and is defined only by the claims.

The present invention can be applied to X-ray detection devices for medical use or non-destructive testing. In addition, the present invention can be applied in a radiation detection device that converts light, such as visible light and the like, in particular in a radiation detection device including a large area photoelectric conversion section.

Claims (10)

1. A radiation imaging device comprising:
a radiation detection device comprising:
pixels including switching elements located on the insulating substrate and conversion elements located above said switching elements for converting radiation into electric current carriers, wherein said switching elements and said conversion elements are connected to each other, and said pixels are two-dimensional in a manner on said insulating substrate to form a matrix;
a gate wiring substantially connected to each of the switching elements arranged in the direction of the rows on said insulating substrate;
signal wiring essentially connected to each of the switching elements located in the direction of the columns; and
a plurality of insulating films located between said switching elements and said converting elements, wherein at least one of said gate wiring and said signal wiring is located so as to be between said plurality of insulating films;
wherein a plurality of buses of said signal wiring are located for said plurality of switching elements on a single column, and substantially the same number of said switching elements are connected to each of said plurality of buses of said signal wiring on one column;
moreover, essentially the same number of said switching elements represents said switching elements in areas divided in each of a plurality of pixels consecutive in the direction of the columns;
wherein, said radiation imaging device further comprises a signal processing circuitry connected to said signal wiring, wherein said signal wiring is located close to the positions of said pixels connected at the greatest distance from said signal processing circuitry. 2. The device according to claim 1, in which these switching elements are transmitting switching elements for electric current carriers generated on the basis of radiation conversion by said converting elements, wherein one electrode of the transmitting switching element is connected to the signal wiring, the other electrode of the transmitting switching element is connected to a converter element, and the gate electrode is connected to the first gate wiring, and
the specified radiation detection device further comprises:
resetting switching elements connected to said converting elements, wherein a plurality of said resetting switching elements of one row is substantially connected to the second gate wiring, wherein one electrode of the resetting switching element is connected to a resetting wiring, another electrode of the resetting switching element is connected to the converting element , and the gate electrode is connected to the second gate wiring; but
the reset wiring is essentially connected to a plurality of reset switching elements in a row direction or a column direction. 3. The device according to claim 1, in which the specified set of insulating films consists of three layers or more, and each of these wiring is made of a metallization layer located between these various insulating films. 4. The device according to claim 1, in which the thicknesses of the layers of the specified set of insulating films differ from one insulating film to another. 5. The device according to claim 1, in which the boundary position of the end of each of the specified set of insulating films is different, and the total film thickness varies stepwise. 6. The device according to claim 3, in which the specified gate wiring, the specified signal wiring and the electrodes of these transducer elements two-dimensionally intersect with each other, while these insulating films are between them, these insulating films are formed so that they are thicker as of how intersection areas become larger. 7. The device according to claim 6, in which the specified set of insulating films formed with a layer thickness taking into account the relative dielectric constant of the material. 8. The device according to claim 1, additionally containing a wavelength converting layer that converts radiation into light in the wavelength region at which photoelectric conversion can be performed, wherein said converting elements are elements that convert light into an electrical signal. 9. The device according to claim 1, in which these converting elements are elements that directly convert radiation into an electrical signal. 10. A radiation imaging system comprising:
radiation imaging device according to claim 8 or 9;
signal processing means for processing a signal from said radiation image detection device;
recording means for registering a signal from said signal processing means;
display means for displaying a signal from said signal processing means;
transmitting and processing means for transmitting a signal from said signal processing means; and
radiation source to create radiation.

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