Measurement of camera image sensor depletion thickness with cosmic rays

Abstract

Camera image sensors can be used to detect ionizing radiation in addition to optical photons. In particular, cosmic-ray muons are detected as long, straight tracks passing through multiple pixels. The distribution of track lengths can be related to the thickness of the active (depleted) region of the camera image sensor through the known angular distribution of muons at sea level. We use a sample of cosmic-ray muon tracks recorded by the Distributed Electronic Cosmic-ray Observatory to measure the thickness of the depletion region of the camera image sensor in a commercial smart phone, the HTC Wildfire S. The track length distribution prefers a cosmic-ray muon angular distribution over an isotropic distribution. Allowing either distribution, we measure the depletion thickness to be between 13.9~$\mu$m and 27.7~$\mu$m. The same method can be applied to additional models of image sensor. Once measured, the thickness can be used to convert track length to incident polar angle on a per-event basis. Combined with a determination of the incident azimuthal angle directly from the track orientation in the sensor plane, this enables direction reconstruction of individual cosmic-ray events.