A 400×400-Pixel 6μm-Pitch Vertical Avalanche Photodiodes CMOS Image Sensor Based on 150ps-Fast Capacitive Relaxation Quenching in Geiger Mode for Synthesis of Arbitrary Gain Images

📋 论文概要

本文提出了一种基于垂直流载流子雪崩光电二极管(VAPD)的CMOS图像传感器，通过150ps快速电容弛豫技术解决了单光子雪崩二极管(SPAD)在CIS中难以实现的淬灭操作问题，并实现了400×400像素、6μm间距的高密度阵列。

💡 主要创新点

• 采用垂直流载流子雪崩光电二极管(VAPD)结构，替代传统SPAD，简化了与CMOS像素电路的集成。
• 引入150ps快速电容弛豫淬灭机制，实现了高速、稳定的单光子探测。
• 在6μm像素间距下实现400×400像素阵列，达到了高分辨率与高填充因子的平衡。

🏷 关键词

📄 原文摘要

Yugo Nose, Motonori Ishii, Seiji Yamahira, Shigetaka Kasuga, Mitsuyoshi Mori, Tatsuya Kabe, Kentaro Nakanishi, Manabu Usuda, Akihiro Odagawa, Tsuyoshi Tanaka Panasonic, Nagaokakyo, Japan The intensive development of Single-photon avalanche photodiode (SPAD) based CMOS image sensors (CIS) continues, with rapid progress [1-6]. Yet, due to unestablished quenching operation [5,6], realization of SPADs onto a CIS alongside conventional pixel circuitry has been a fundamental challenge. In this paper, we present a CIS based on a vertically flowing carrier avalanche photodiode (VAPD) with a “relaxation-quenching (RQ)” method in which the cathode of VAPD and its parasitic capacitances including floating diffusion (FD) are left “floating” during the Geiger-mode (GM) operation. The technique utilizes a negative-feedback effect of avalanche-generated charge accumulation on the floating node to reduce the ionization field of VAPD. RQ is intrinsically fast due to

👥 作者与机构

Yutaka Hirose, Shinzo Koyama, Toru Okino, Akito Inoue, Shigeru Saito,