A Time-Resolved, Low-Noise Single-Photon Image Sensor Fabricated in Deep-Submicron CMOS Technology

M. Gersbach, Y. Maruyama, R. Trimananda, Matthew Fishburn, David Stoppa, J. Richardson, Richard Walker, Robert Henderson, Edoardo Charbon

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We report on the design and characterization of a novel time-resolved image sensor fabricated in a 130 nm CMOS process. Each pixel within the 3232 pixel array contains a low-noise single-photon detector and a high-precision time-to-digital converter (TDC). The 10-bit TDC exhibits a timing resolution of 119 ps with a timing uniformity across the entire array of less than 2 LSBs. The differential non-linearity (DNL) and integral non-linearity (INL) were measured at ±0.4 and ±1.2 LSBs, respectively. The pixel array was fabricated with a pitch of 50 μm in both directions and with a total TDC area of less than 2000 μm2. The target application for this sensor is time-resolved imaging, in particular fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy and 3D imaging. The characterization shows the suitability of the proposed sensor technology for these applications.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1394-1407
Number of pages14
JournalIEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits
Volume47
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2012

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • FCS
  • FLIM
  • SPAD
  • Single-photon imaging
  • TDC
  • fluorescence correlation spectroscopy

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