A CMOS 3-D Imager Based on Single Photon Avalanche Diode

A 64-pixel linear array aimed at 3-D vision applications is implemented in a high-voltage 0.8 mum CMOS technology. The detection of the incident light signals is performed using photodiodes biased above breakdown voltage so that an extremely high sensitivity can be achieved exploiting the intrinsic multiplication effect of the avalanche phenomenon. Each 38times180-mum² pixel includes, besides the single photon avalanche diode, a dedicated read-out circuit for the arrival-time estimation of incident light pulses. To increase the distance measurement resolution a multiple pulse measurement is used, extracting the mean value of the light pulse arrival-time directly in each pixel; this innovative approach dramatically reduces the dead-time of the pixel read-out, allowing a high frame rate imaging to be achieved. The sensor array provides a range map from 2 m to 5 m with a precision better than plusmn0.75% without any external averaging operation. Moreover, with the same chip, we have explored for the first time the implementation of an indirect time-of-flight measurement by operating the proposed active pixel in the photon counting mode     

Design of an integrated low-noise read-out system for DNA capacitive sensors

This paper presents an electronic system for a fast DNA label-less detection. The sensitivity of the capacitive sensor in use is improved by depositing an insulating self-assembled monolayer (SAM) over the golden electrodes. The capacitance shift due to the hybridization effect is monitored by means of a charge-sensitive amplifier and digitalized by means of a comparator and a counter. The read-out solution demonstrates the ability to identify a 0.01% variation on the capacitive value of the sensor. Results from measurements with the optimized sensor show the reliability of the electronics. The investigated solution is suitable for monolithic systems or for a micro-fabricated array of sensors. An example of the integrated front-end is described and performances and noise evaluation are reported here.     

Radiation dose measurment using MOSFETs

The MOS transistor as a radiation dose detector has been presented. MOS transistors present advantages such as low cost, small volume and weight, robustness, accuracy, large measurable dose range, and sensitivity to low-energy radiation (10 keV). They are useful in real-time measurements or post-irradiation read-out, while they retain information after reading. The sensitivity of unbiased MOSFETs has been improved, and further improvement is possible by increasing the oxide thickness via dual dielectrics or by using ion-implanted oxides and stacked MOSFET configurations. The stacked-transistor configuration is a very promising solution to reach the mRad range (personnel dosimetry). MOSFETs are already used in various application fields with increasing interest for use in specific cases of in-vivo dosimetry     

InGaAs/InP盖革模式雪崩焦平面阵列的研制

设计制作了一种由InGaAs/InP雪崩光电二极管阵列与时间计数型CMOS读出电路组成的8×8阵列规格盖革模式雪崩焦平面阵列(GM APD FPA).雪崩光电二极管采用SAGCM结构,在盖革模式下工作具有单光子探测灵敏度;时间计数型CMOS读出电路在每个单元获取光子飞行时间,实现纳秒级的时间分辨率,并完成雪崩淬灭功能.测试结果表明,倒装混合集成的GM APD FPA器件暗计数率(DCR)均值为32.5 kHz,单光子探测效率(PDE)均值为19.5％,单元时间抖动为465 ps,实现了光脉冲时间信息的探测,验证了盖革模式雪崩焦平面阵列技术及其在三维成像中应用的可行性.     

一种缺陷阶梯型光学生物传感器的设计

针对目前酶、蛋白质等重要生物分子在检测中的问题,该文设计了一种缺陷阶梯型光学生物传感器,用严格耦合波分析(RCWA)法计算此传感器反射光谱的反射率。由模拟结果可得,传感器反射光谱的特定波峰处,激光的入射角度与待测生物分子折射率有良好的线性关系,且在75.4°固定的激光入射角度下,传感器反射光谱中的反射率与待测生物分子的折射率也有良好的线性关系。基于此结论可知,不仅可由传感器反射光谱的反射率得到待测生物分子的折射率,也可由激光的入射角度来得到待测生物分子的折射率,进而获取待测生物分子的信息。     

Active CMOS Sensor Array for Electrochemical Biomolecular Detection

Electrochemical sensing of biomolecules eliminates the need for the bulky and expensive optical instrumentation required in traditional fluorescence-based sensing assays. Integration of the sensor interface electrodes and active electrochemical detection circuitry on a CMOS substrate miniaturizes the sensing platform, enhancing its portability for use in point-of-care applications, while enabling the high-throughput, highly parallel analysis characteristic of traditional microarrays. This paper describes the design of a four-by-four active sensor array for multiplexed electrochemical biomolecular detection in a standard 0.25-$mu{hbox {m}}$ CMOS process. Integrated potentiostats, comprised of control amplifiers and dual-slope analog-to-digital converters, stimulate the electrochemical cell and detect the current flowing through the on-chip gold electrodes at each sensor site that results from biomolecular reactions occurring on the chip surface. Post-processing steps needed to fabricate a biologically-compatible surface-electrode array in CMOS that can withstand operation in a harsh electrochemical environment are also described. Experimental results demonstrating the proper operation of the active CMOS array for biomolecular detection include cyclic voltammetry of a reversible redox species, DNA probe density characterization, as well as quantitative and specific DNA hybridization detection.      

Carbon Nanomaze for Biomolecular Detection with Zeptomolar Sensitivity

Despite numerous efforts, the accurate determination of trace biomolecules with zeptomolar sensitivity remains elusive. Here, a 3D carbon nanomaze (CAM) electrode for the ultrasensitive detection of trace biomolecules such as nucleic acids, proteins, and extracellular vesicles is reported. The CAM electrode consists of an interlaced carbon fiber array on which intercrossed graphene sheets are vertically tethered in situ, permitting local confinement of trace molecules to increase molecular hybridization efficiency. Furthermore, a self-assembled DNA tetrahedron array adopts a rigid spatial conformation to guarantee the controllable arrangement of immobilized biological probes, facilitating analytical sensitivity and reproducibility. In a proof-of-concept experiment on detecting microRNA-155, a linearity of 0.1 aM to 100 nM and a sensitivity of 0.023 aM (23 zM) are achieved. With the optimal parameters, the proposed nanoelectrode demonstrates encouraging consistency with quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction during clinical sample detection. Through simple functionalization by appending various biomolecular probes of interest, the developed CAM platform with ultrahigh sensitivity can be exploited as a versatile tool in environmental, chemistry, biology, and healthcare fields.     

A Method for Assessing Spectral Image Utility

The utility of an image is an attribute that describes the ability of that image to satisfy performance requirements for a particular application. This paper establishes the context for spectral image utility by first reviewing traditional approaches to assessing panchromatic image utility and then discussing differences for spectral imagery. We define spectral image utility for the subpixel target detection application as the area under the receiver operating curve summarized across a range of target detection scenario parameters. We propose a new approach to assessing the utility of any spectral image for any target type and size and detection algorithm. Using six airborne hyperspectral images, we demonstrate the sensitivity of the assessed image utility to various target detection scenario parameters and show the flexibility of this approach as a tool to answer specific user information requirements. The results of this investigation lead to a better understanding of spectral image information vis-À-vis target detection performance and provide a step toward quantifying the ability of a spectral image to satisfy information exploitation requirements.      

High Surface Area Flexible Chemiresistive Biosensor by Oxidative Chemical Vapor Deposition

Fabrication of a chemiresistive biosensor for detection of biomolecules is demonstrated on a high surface area, flexible electro‐spun nylon fiber mat. For the first time, the –OH functionalized conducting copolymer of 3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) and 3‐thiopheneethanol (3‐TE) is synthesized and conformally deposited on the electro‐spun mats by oxidative chemical vapor deposition (oCVD). The free –OH functional groups of the copolymer are available for immobilization of analyte specific biomolecules. Here, avidin and biotin molecules are employed as the analyte‐specific molecule and analyte respectively for their high specificity to each other. The sensitivities of avidin immobilized conducting copolymer on electro‐spun mats are tested against micro‐molar to nano‐molar concentrations of biotin in aqueous solutions. Application of electro‐spun fiber mat in this case enhances the sensor response 6 times when compared to a flat substrate and also significantly lowers the response time. In addition to the experimental studies, current work also includes modeling of the kinetics of the change of response for the biotin‐avidin interactions as a function of time. Most importantly, this fabrication technique promises an extremely sensitive and field deployable method for the detection of other biomolecules, for example, food pathogens.     

积累型微光CCD摄像机

积累型微光ＣＣＤ摄像机是利用ＣＣＤ变积累控制技术而研制成功的一种高灵敏高摄像机，该成果所采用的技术路线是提出对微光图像信号进行积分，抑制随机噪声利用ＣＣＤ图顺具有的电荷积累特性，改变其读取转移时间，延长信号在ＣＣＤ靶面上累积电荷的时间，从而提高静目标或亚静目标的灵敏度，同时，研制了一系列抑制装置，从而有效地提高了信噪比。     

Efficiency of Spectral-Based ADC Test Flows to Detect Static Errors

Testing of Analog-to-Digital Converters is classically composed of two successive and independent phases: the histogram-based test technique evaluating static specifications and the spectral analysis technique evaluating the dynamic performances. Consequently, the fundamental objective here is to investigate the feasibility of an alternative test flow involving exclusively spectral analysis to replace these two time consuming and expensive phases. The viability of this solution depends on the ability of spectral analysis to detect static specifications. In this context, this paper presents a new methodology based on a statistical approach to quantitatively evaluate the efficiency of detecting static errors from dynamic parameter measurements. This methodology has been implemented in an in-house automatic tool allowing one to process any ADC specifications. It is then possible to choose a priori the best test flow for a given application.     

基于量子级联激光器光腔衰荡光谱技术的痕量氨气检测

采用基于红外脉冲量子级联激光器的高灵敏光腔衰荡光谱(Cavity ring-down spectroscopy)技术建立了氨气在1027 cm-1(9.7 μm)附近的吸收光谱痕量检测实验装置.使用该装置对人体口腔呼出气体以及超净实验室环境中氨气成份进行了测量和分析,氨气的检测灵敏度达到10 ppb.模拟分析了激光器光谱线宽对测量结果和系统检测灵敏度的影响,随着激光器光谱线宽的增加,测量结果偏低,系统检测灵敏度下降.为了减小光源线宽对测量结果的影响,通过修正曲线对测量数据进行修正,得到了较好的结果.     

Fiber-coupler-based microfluidic system for trapping of DNA biomolecules

A miniature fiber-coupler-based microfluidic system is proposed for trapping of DNA biomolecules. The loop-shaped fiber-coupler is fabricated by using flame tapering technique and integrated in a microfluidic channel. Probe-DNA immobilized on the fiber-coupler surface enables specific recognition of target DNA sequences and effectively facilitates the trapping of target DNA molecules. The binding characteristics of biomolecules on the fiber-coupler surface have been theoretically analyzed and experimentally demonstrated. Experimental results indicate that the spectral response of the loop-shaped fiber coupler immobilized with probe DNA exhibits a red-shift with the trapping of the DNA biomolecules. The proposed microfluidic system possesses such desirable merits as simple structure, label-free method and high integration, which make it a promising candidate for applications in molecular biology and related bioengineering areas.     

All-Dielectric Crescent Metasurface Sensor Driven by Bound States in the Continuum

Metasurfaces based on quasi-bound states in the continuum (quasi-BICs) constitute an emerging toolkit in nanophotonic sensing as they sustain high quality factor resonances and substantial near-field enhancements. It is demonstrated that silicon metasurfaces composed of crescent shaped meta-atoms provide tailored light-matter interaction controlled by the crescent geometry. Significantly, this metasurface not only exhibits a fundamental quasi-BIC resonance, but also supports a higher-order resonance with tunable electromagnetic field enhancement and advantageous properties for sensing. The higher-order resonance shows twice the sensitivity of the fundamental one for bulk refractive index sensing. It is further demonstrated that both the fundamental and higher-order resonances can be exploited for sensing ultrathin layers of biomolecules in air and buffer solutions. Specifically, when measuring in buffer solution, the figure of merit of the sensor, defined as the change in the spectral position of the resonance normalized to its full width at half maximum, is a factor of 2.5 larger for the higher-order resonance when compared to the fundamental one. Due to its high sensitivity and potential for straightforward microfluidic integration, the silicon crescent metasurface is ideally suited for real-time and in situ biosensing, enabling compact sensing devices for a wide range of diagnostic applications.     

Backside spectroscopic photon emission microscopy using intensified silicon CCD

A typical solution for backside analysis of photon emissions from semiconductor integrated circuits has been the InGaAs detector. It takes advantage of the transparency of the silicon material to wavelengths within its spectral sensitivity regime. However, it has been recently demonstrated that light spectral information extraction is more reliable when using silicon CCDs (SiCCDs) assisted by proper backside bulk Si thinning of the device. In this paper we demonstrate further improvement of the photon emission spectrum acquisition using the solid-state intensified silicon CCD (SI-CCD). Using the presented solution it is possible to significantly reduce the analysis time, expand the detectable spectral regime as well as improve the spectral wavelength resolution.     

Architecture and performance of a Grid-enabled lookup-based biomedical optimization application: light scattering spectroscopy.

This paper presents a case study of a Grid-enabled implementation of light scattering spectroscopy (LSS). The LSS technique allows noninvasive detection of precancerous changes in human epithelium, differentiating from traditional biopsies by allowing in vivo diagnosis of tissue samples and quantitative analyses of parameters related to cancerous changes via numerical techniques. This paper describes the architecture of GridLSS and its integration with a Web-based Grid computing portal. GridLSS solves an optimization problem of determining the light scattering spectrum that best fits experimental spectral data among a large set of spectra computed analytically using rigorous Mie theory. The novel approach taken in this paper is based on the precomputation and storage of Mie theory spectra in lookup databases that are queried during the minimization process. The paper makes three important contributions: 1) it presents a novel parallel application for LSS analysis that delivers high performance in wide-area distributed computing environment; 2) it evaluates and analyzes the performance of this application in cluster-based high-performance computing environments that are typical of Grid deployments; and 3) it shows that the performance of GridLSS benefits significantly from the use of on-demand Grid data transfers based on virtualized distributed file systems and from user-level caches for remote file system data.     

Spectroscopic detection of gastrointestinal dysplasia using optical microsensors

The detection of dysplasia in the gastrointestinal tract can be performed using optical microsensors based on thin-film optical filters and silicon photodiodes. This paper describes two optical microsensors that can be used for spectroscopy data collection in two different spectral bands (one in the violet/blue region and the other in the green region) for which two optical filters were designed and fabricated. An empirical analysis of gastrointestinal spectroscopic data using these specific spectral bands is performed. The obtained results show that it is possible to accurately differentiate dysplastic lesions from normal tissue, with a sensitivity and specificity of 77.8% and 97.6%, respectively. Therefore, the developed filters can be used as a tool to aid in diagnosis. The small size of the optical microsensors can enable, in the future, integration in endoscopic capsules.     

偏振CARS研究核苷分子振动结构

用偏振灵敏ＣＡＮＳ光谱研究尿嘧啶、胸腺嘧啶、胞嘧啶和腺嘌呤四种核苷分子的振动结构。谱的非共振背景被有效地消除，核苷的双键振动模清晰可辨，对每种核苷分子的特征谱线进行了标识，作为在生物分子中识别它们的标志。     

Constrained subpixel target detection for remotely sensed imagery

Target detection in remotely sensed images can be conducted spatially, spectrally or both. The difficulty of detecting targets in remotely sensed images with spatial image analysis arises from the fact that the ground sampling distance is generally larger than the size of targets of interest in which case targets are embedded in a single pixel and cannot be detected spatially. Under this circumstance target detection must be carried out at subpixel level and spectral analysis offers a valuable alternative. In this paper, the problem of subpixel spectral detection of targets in remote sensing images is considered, where two constrained target detection approaches are studied and compared. One is a target abundance-constrained approach, referred to as nonnegatively constrained least squares (NCLS) method. It is a constrained least squares spectral mixture analysis method which implements a nonnegativity constraint on the abundance fractions of targets of interest. Another is a target signature-constrained approach, called constrained energy minimization (CEM) method. It constrains the desired target signature with a specific gain while minimizing effects caused by other unknown signatures. A quantitative study is conducted to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of both methods. Some suggestions are further proposed to mitigate their disadvantages