CMOS active pixel image sensor

A new CMOS active pixel image sensor is reported. The sensor uses a 2.0 μm double-poly, double-metal foundry CMOS process and is realized as a 128×128 array of 40 μm×40 μm pixels. The sensor features TTL compatible voltages, low noise and large dynamic range, and will be useful in machine vision and smart sensor applications     

A CMOS image sensor with a double-junction active pixel

A CMOS image sensor that employs a vertically integrated double-junction photodiode structure is presented. This allows color imaging with only two filters. The sensor uses a 184*154 (near-QCIF) 6-transistor pixel array at a 9.6-/spl mu/m pitch implemented in 0.35-/spl mu/m technology. Results of the device characterization are presented. The imaging performance of an integrated two-filter color sensor is also projected, using measurements and software processing of subsampled images from the monochrome sensor with two color filters.     

CMOS active pixel image sensor with simple floating gate pixels

A new pixel structure using a simple floating gate (SFG) has been proposed. The pixel consists of a coupling capacitor, a photogate, a barrier gate and a MOS transistor. It features complete reset that results in no kTC noise and no image lag, high blooming overload protection, nondestructive readout (NDRO), and CMOS compatibility. Its basic operation has been confirmed with a 32(H)×27(V) pixel area array. Since the pixel structure is relatively simple, small pixel size is feasible     

CMOS有源光电传感器像素采集单元成像质量分析

针对CMOS光电二极管型有源像素采集单元中存在的拖影问题,从像素采集单元的工作原理入手,利用光电二极管的等效电路模型,对像素采集单元的光电转换状态和置位状态进行分析.得出造成拖影的根本原因是光电二极管置位后的电压与上一周期末光电二极管的光生电压有关.     

Readout circuit in active pixel sensors in amorphous silicontechnology

The most widely used architecture in large area amorphous silicon (a-Si) flat panel imagers is a passive pixel sensor (PPS), which consists of a detector and a readout switch. While the PPS has the advantage of being compact and amenable toward high-resolution imaging, reading small PPS output signals requires external circuitry such as column charge amplifiers that produce additional noise and reduce the minimum readable sensor input signal. This work presents a current mode amorphous silicon active pixel that performs on-pixel amplification of noise-vulnerable sensor input signals to minimize the effect of external readout noise sources associated with “off-chip” charge amplifiers. Preliminary results indicate excellent small signal linearity along with a high and programmable charge gain     

Transversal-readout architecture for CMOS active pixel image sensors

Novel architecture for CMOS active pixel image sensors (APSs), which eliminates the vertically striped fixed pattern noise (FPN), is presented. There are two kinds of FPN for CMOS APSs. One originates from the pixel-to-pixel variation in dark current and source-follower threshold voltage, and the other from the column-to-column variation in column readout structures. The former may become invisible in the future due to process improvements. However, the latter, which results in a vertically striped FPN, is and will be conspicuous without some subtraction because of the correlation in the vertical direction. The pixel consists of a photodiode, a row- and column-reset transistor, a source-follower input transistor, and a column-select transistor instead of the row-select transistor found in conventional CMOS APSs. The column-select transistor is connected to a signal line that runs horizontally instead of vertically. An experimentally fabricated 320/spl times/240-pixel CMOS APS employing the transversal-readout architecture exhibited neither vertically nor horizontally striped FPN. A buried-photodiode device with the transversal-readout architecture is also proposed.     

A low voltage hybrid bulk/SOI CMOS active pixel image sensor

A hybrid bulk/silicon-on-insulator (SOI) complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) active pixel image sensor has been fabricated and studied. The active pixel comprised of reset and source follow transistors on the SOI thin film while the photodiode is fabricated on the SOI handling substrate after removing the buried oxide. The bulk photodiode can be optimized for efficiency with the use of lightly doped SOI substrate without compromising the circuit performance. On the other hand, the elimination of wells on the SOI thin-film allows the use of PMOSFET without increasing the pixel size. The addition of a PMOSFET in the active pixel structure can reduce the minimum operating voltage of the circuit beyond that of conventional designs. With the combination of the high quantum efficiency of bulk photodiode and the low power advantage of SOI technology, the hybrid technology is attractive for scaled low voltage imaging applications     

CMOS active pixel image sensors for highly integrated imagingsystems

A family of CMOS-based active pixel image sensors (APSs) that are inherently compatible with the integration of on-chip signal processing circuitry is reported. The image sensors were fabricated using commercially available 2-μm CMOS processes and both p-well and n-well implementations were explored. The arrays feature random access, 5-V operation and transistor-transistor logic (TTL) compatible control signals. Methods of on-chip suppression of fixed pattern noise to less than 0.1% saturation are demonstrated. The baseline design achieved a pixel size of 40 μm×40 μm with 26% fill-factor. Array sizes of 28×28 elements and 128×128 elements have been fabricated and characterized. Typical output conversion gain is 3.7 μV/e^- for the p-well devices and 6.5 μV/e^- for the n-well devices. Input referred read noise of 28 e^- rms corresponding to a dynamic range of 76 dB was achieved. Characterization of various photogate pixel designs and a photodiode design is reported. Photoresponse variations for different pixel designs are discussed     

Dual-mode wide dynamic range CMOS active pixel sensor

A new dual-mode wide dynamic range CMOS image sensor is designed, which is capable of two different operating modes: logarithmic and floating point mode. The proposed sensor can choose the operating mode manually or adaptively. A prototype pixel is designed and tested with standard 0.5 /spl mu/m CMOS process.     

Passivation issues in active pixel CMOS image sensors

Most of the integrated circuit industry follows a final passivation process which consists of a low temperature passivation layer deposition and a thermal anneal. This two step process is particularly relevant in CMOS imagers where the dark current is a major issue. This work shows that passivation material plays an important role in the device performance. We measured H diffusion through the final silicon nitride layer and we compare these results with the material properties and passivation efficiency.     

CMOS active pixel sensor star tracker with regional electronicshutter

A 64×64 element CMOS active pixel sensor (APS) for star tracker applications is reported. The chip features an innovative regional electronic shutter through the use of an individual pixel reset architecture. Using the regional electronic shutter, each star in the field of view can have its own integration period. This way, simultaneous capture of bright stars with dim stars is accommodated, enabling a large increase in tracker capability. The chip achieves 80 dB dynamic range, 50 e-rms read noise, low dark current, and excellent electronic shutter linearity     

微光CMOS图像传感器读出电路研究

高性能的信号读出电路是微光CMOS图像传感器的重要组成部分,如何降低读出电路噪声,提高读出电路输出信号的信噪比成为读出电路设计的重点。本文设计了一种高增益低噪声的电容反馈跨阻放大器CTIA（Capacitive Trans impedanceAmplifier）与相关双采样电路CDS （Correlated Double Sampling）相结合的微光探测器读出电路。在CTIA电路中,采用T网络电容实现fF级的积分电容,并通过增益开关控制,来达到对微弱光信号的高增益低噪声读出。采用CSMC公司的0.5μm标准CMOS工艺库对电路进行流片,测试结果表明：在光电流信号为20~300 pA范围内,积分时间为20μs,该电路功能良好,信噪比（SNR）达到10,能应用于微光CMOS图像传感器。     

Wide dynamic range CMOS image sensor with pixel level ADC

A new enhanced dynamic range (DR) and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) CMOS imaging system with a pixel level analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) is presented. The proposed reset technique and time-to-digital converter increases DR and peak SNR simultaneously. The circuit reuse concept is also proposed to increase the fill factor.     

Analysis of temporal noise in CMOS photodiode active pixel sensor

Temporal noise sets the fundamental limit on image sensor performance, especially under low illumination and in video applications. In a CCD image sensor, temporal noise is primarily due to the photodetector shot noise and the output amplifier thermal and 1/f noise. CMOS image sensors suffer from higher noise than CCDs due to the additional pixel and column amplifier transistor thermal and 1/f noise. Noise analysis is further complicated by the time-varying circuit models, the fact that the reset transistor operates in subthreshold during reset, and the nonlinearity of the charge to voltage conversion, which is becoming more pronounced as CMOS technology scales. The paper presents a detailed and rigorous analysis of temporal noise due to thermal and shot noise sources in CMOS active pixel sensor (APS) that takes into consideration these complicating factors. Performing time-domain analysis, instead of the more traditional frequency-domain analysis, we find that the reset noise power due to thermal noise is at most half of its commonly quoted kT/C value. This result is corroborated by several published experimental data including data presented in this paper. The lower reset noise, however, comes at the expense of image lag. We find that alternative reset methods such as overdriving the reset transistor gate or using a pMOS transistor can alleviate lag, but at the expense of doubling the reset noise power. We propose a new reset method that alleviates lag without increasing reset noise     

Light guide for pixel crosstalk improvement in deep submicron CMOS image sensor

Light guide, a novel dielectric structure consisting of PE-Oxide and FSG-Oxide, has been developed to reduce crosstalk in 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS image sensor technology. Due to the difference in refraction index (1.46 for PE-Oxide and 1.435 for FSG-Oxide), major part of the incident light can be totally reflected at the interface of PE-Oxide/FSG-Oxide, as the incidence angle is larger than total reflection angle. With this light guide, the pixel sensing capability can be enhanced and to reduce pixel crosstalk. Small pixels with pitch 3.0-/spl mu/m and 4.0-/spl mu/m have been characterized and examined. In 3.0-/spl mu/m pixel, optical crosstalk achieves 30% reduction for incidence angle of light at 10/spl deg/.     

Nonsilicide source/drain pixel for 0.25-μm CMOS image sensor

A nonsilicide source/drain pixel is proposed for high performance 0.25-μm CMOS image sensor. By using organic material spin coat and etch back, silicide is only formed on poly gate which can be used as interconnection, not for source/drain region that solve the optical opaqueness and undesirably large junction leakage of silicide. The performance of MOSFET changes little due to the high sheet resistance of nonsilicide source/drain. With H₂ annealing and double ion implanted source/drain junction, the dark current can be further reduced. The novel pixel (three transistors, 3.3 μm×3.3 μm, fill factor: 28%) shows low dark current (less than 0.5 fA per pixel at 25°C) and high photoresponse     

四管CMOS图像传感器中像素图像拖影的二维仿真与优化

Pixel image lag in a 4-T CMOS image sensor is analyzed and simulated in a two-dimensional model. Strategies of reducing image lag are discussed from transfer gate channel threshold voltage doping adjustment, PPD N-type doping dose/implant tilt adjustment and transfer gate operation voltage adjustment for signal electron transfer. With the computer analysis tool ISE-TCAD, simulation results show that minimum image lag can be obtained at a pinned photodiode n-type doping dose of 7.0 × 10¹² cm^–2, an implant tilt of –2^o, a transfer gate channel doping dose of 3.0 × 10¹² cm^-2 and an operation voltage of 3.4 V. The conclusions of this theoretical analysis can be a guideline for pixel design to improve the performance of 4-T CMOS image sensors.     

Two-dimensional pixel image lag simulation and optimization in a 4-T CMOS image sensor

Pixel image lag in a 4-T CMOS image sensor is analyzed and simulated in a two-dimensional model.Strategies of reducing image lag are discussed from transfer gate channel threshold voltage doping adjustment,PPD N-type doping dose/implant tilt adjustment and transfer gate operation voltage adjustment for signal electron transfer.With the computer analysis tool ISE-TCAD,simulation results show that minimum image lag can be obtained at a pinned photodiode n-type doping dose of 7.0×10~(12) cm~(-2),an implant ...     

Random addressable 2048×2048 active pixel image sensor

In this paper, we discuss the design, design issues, fabrication, and performance of a 2048×2048 active pixel image sensor in a 0.5-μm standard CMOS process. Each pixel, 7.5×7.5 μm² , consists of three transistors and a photo diode, resulting in a 12-million transistor chip with a die size of 16.3×16.5 mm. The pixel has a nonintegrating direct readout architecture, with a logarithmic light-to-voltage conversion. This allows the array to be fully random accessible, both in space and time. The sensor has eight analog outputs, each with a pixel rate of 4.5 MHz, which implies a maximum frame rate of eight full frames per second. Sub-sampling or windowing makes higher frame rates possible. The yield of the sensor is high if one accepts a small number of bad pixels     

A 256×256 pixel smart CMOS image sensor for line-based stereovision applications

This paper presents a 256×256 pixel smart CMOS image sensor for line based vision applications. By combining the edge-based analog processing technique with an active pixel array, a dense and fast on-chip analog image processing has been achieved. The on-chip processing unit includes (1) an analog histogram equalizer, (2) a programmable recursive Gaussian filter, (3) a spatio-temporal differentiator, and (4) a local extrema extractor. An electronic shutter is applied to the active pixel sensor array in order to adapt the exposure time as a function of global illumination. The on-chip histogram equalizer extends the image into a constant and optimal range for all the following processing operators and gives a stable and predictable precision of the analog processing. A prototype chip has been designed and fabricated in a standard 0.8-μm CMOS process with double poly and double metal, giving a pixel pitch of 20 μm and die size of 7×7 mm². A line processing time is compatible with TV line scan period. The worst case power consumption measures 40 mA at 5 V