The electron beam induced current (EBIC) technique was used to characterize a 32 μm thick hydrogenated amorphous silicon n-i-p diode deposited on top of an ASIC, containing several channels of active feedback pre-amplifiers (AFP) with peaking time of 5 ns. The homogeneity of the sample together with the edge effects induced by the unevenness of the ASIC substrate were studied with low doses of 10-30 keV electron beam. The degradation of a-Si:H pixel detectors was measured with intense electron beam. Their charge collection and transient time were characterized with a 660 nm pulsed laser before and after the thermal annealing. All the diodes show approximately a full recovery of charge collection after thermal annealing. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.