A 28M 43cm² Full-Frame CCD Imager for Medical and Scientific Applications

Contrary to many consumer applications where cost is a driver for shrinking pixel sizes, certain medical, scientific imaging and aerial reconnaissance applications require large-format imagers. This paper presents a 'half-wafer-scale' 7k x 4k 86mm x 49mm full-frame CCD imager, one of the largest ICs in the world that is in regular production. Next to the challenges in design and wafer fabrication, the paper also describes the solutions for testing, assembly and application development for this very large device.