SHENZHEN XPECTVISION TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.

Disclosed herein is a method comprising: sending radiation pulses (i), i=1, . . . , M one by one toward an object and toward an image sensor as the image sensor moves nonstop in a first direction with respect to the object; and for each value of i, capturing with the image sensor a partial image (i) of the object using radiation of the radiation pulse (i) that has transmitted through the object. The image sensor comprises N active areas. Each active area of the N active areas comprises multiple sensing elements. For each value of i, the radiation pulse (i) has a pulse duration during which the image sensor travels a distance shorter than a width measured in the first direction of any sensing element of the image sensor. M and N are integers greater than 1.

Disclosed herein is a method comprising: sending radiation pulses (i), i=1, . . . , M one by one toward an object and toward an image sensor as the image sensor moves nonstop in a first direction with respect to the object; and for each value of i, capturing with the image sensor a partial image (i) of the object using radiation of the radiation pulse (i) that has transmitted through the object. The image sensor comprises N active areas. Each active area of the N active areas comprises multiple sensing elements. For each value of i, the radiation pulse (i) has a pulse duration during which the image sensor travels a distance shorter than a width measured in the first direction of any sensing element of the image sensor. M and N are integers greater than 1.

Disclosed herein is an image sensor with two radiation detectors, each having a planar surface for receiving radiation; and a calibration pattern. The planar surfaces of the radiation detectors are not coplanar. The image sensor can capture images of two portions of the calibration pattern, respectively using the radiation detectors. The image sensor can determine two transformations for the radiation detectors based on the images of the portions of the calibration pattern, respectively. The image sensor can capture images of two portions of a scene, respectively using the radiation detectors, determine projections of the images of the portions of the scene onto an image plane using the transformations, respectively, and form an image of the scene by stitching the projections.

Disclosed herein is a method of using an image sensor comprising N sensing areas for capturing images of a scene, the N sensing areas being physically separate from each other, the method comprising: for i=1, . . . , P, and j=1, . . . , Q(i), positioning the image sensor at a location (i, j) and capturing a partial image (i, j) of the scene using the image sensor while the image sensor is at the location (i, j), thereby capturing in total R partial images, wherein R is the sum of Q(i), i=1, . . . , P, wherein P>1, wherein Q(i), i=1, . . . , P are positive integers and are not all 1, wherein for i=1, . . . , P, a location group (i) comprises the locations (i, j), j=1, . . . , Q(i), and wherein a minimum distance between 2 locations of 2 different location groups is substantially larger than a maximum distance between two locations of a same location group; and determining a combined image of the scene based on the R partial images.

Disclosed herein is a method comprising: aligning a collimator and a plurality of radiation detectors of an image sensor by: moving the radiation detectors along a first direction; moving the collimator along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; rotating the collimator about an axis perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction; wherein the plurality of radiation detectors are configured to capture images of portions of a scene at different image capturing positions, respectively, and to form an image of the scene by stitching the images of the portions.

Disclosed herein is an imaging system, comprising: an image sensor which comprises: a system printed circuit board (system PCB); M group printed circuit boards (group PCBs (i), i=1, . . . , M) mounted on a mounting surface of the system PCB; and Ni radiation detectors mounted on the group PCB (i), for i=1, . . . , M, wherein M and Ni, i=1, . . . , M are integers greater than 1, wherein the image sensor is configured to scan a scene in a scanning direction, and wherein, for each group PCB (i), there is not a plane which (A) is parallel to a normal direction of the mounting surface of the system PCB, (B) is parallel to the scanning direction, (C) divides all active areas of the Ni radiation detectors into 2 groups of active areas, and (D) does not intersect any active area of all the active areas of the Ni radiation detectors.

Disclosed herein is an image sensor and a method of making the image sensor. The image sensor may comprise one or more packages of semiconductor radiation detectors. Each of the one or more packages may comprise a radiation detector that comprises a radiation absorption layer on a first strip of semiconductor wafer and an electronics layer on a second strip of semiconductor wafer. The radiation absorption layer may be continuous along the first strip of semiconductor wafer with no coverage gap. The first strip and the second strip may be longitudinally aligned and bonded together. The radiation detector may be mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB) and electrically connected to the PCB close to an edge of the radiation detector.

Disclosed herein is a method, comprising: capturing via an exposure a first image with a first radiation detector which comprises a first active area and a first dummy area, wherein the first dummy area is disposed between application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chips of the first radiation detector, and wherein the first image comprises (A) first regular picture elements corresponding to the first active area and (B) first dummy picture elements corresponding to the first dummy area; and determining values of the first dummy picture elements based on values of the first regular picture elements.

Disclosed herein is a method of using an image sensor comprising N sensing areas for capturing images of a scene, the N sensing areas being physically separate from each other, the method comprising: for i=1, . . . , P, and j=1, . . . , Q(i), positioning the image sensor at a location (i,j) and capturing a partial image (i,j) of the scene using the image sensor while the image sensor is at the location (i,j), thereby capturing in total R partial images, wherein R is the sum of Q(i), i=1, . . . , P, wherein P>1, wherein Q(i), i=1, . . . , P are positive integers and are not all 1, wherein for i=1, . . . , P, a location group (i) comprises the locations (i,j), j=1, . . . , Q(i), and wherein a minimum distance between 2 locations of 2 different location groups is substantially larger than a maximum distance between two locations of a same location group; and determining a combined image of the scene based on the R partial images.

Disclosed herein is a method comprising: forming electrical contacts on a first surface of an epitaxial layer supported on a substrate, the first surface being opposite from the substrate; bonding the epitaxial layer to an electronics layer, wherein the first surface faces the electronics layer and the electrical contacts on the first surface are bonded to electrical contacts of the electronics layer; exposing a second surface opposite the first surface by removing the substrate; and forming a common electrode on the second surface.