Development of CMOS active pixel sensors

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This thesis describes an investigation into the suitability of complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) active pixel sensor (APS) devices for scientific imaging applications. CMOS APS offer a number of advantages over the established charge-coupled device (CCD) technology, primarily in the areas of low power consumption, high-speed parallel readout and random (X-Y) addressing, increased system integration and improved radiation hardness. The investigation used a range of newly designed Test Structures in conjunction with a range of custom developed test equipment to characterise device performance. Initial experimental work highlighted the significant non-linearity in the charge conversion gain (responsivity) and found the read noise to be limited by the kTC component due to resetting of the pixel capacitance. The major experimental study investigated the contribution to dark signal due to hot-carrier injection effects from the in-pixel transistors during read-out and highlighted the importance of the contribution at low signal levels. The quantum efficiency (QE) and cross-talk were also investigated and found to be limited by the pixel fill factor and shallow depletion depth of the photodiode. The work has highlighted the need to design devices to explore the effects of individual components rather than stand-alone imaging devices and indicated further developments are required for APS technology to compete with the CCD for high-end scientific imaging applications. The main areas requiring development are in achieving backside illuminated, deep depletion devices with low dark signal and low noise sampling techniques.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council; e2v Technologie

Development of CMOS active pixel sensors

This thesis describes an investigation into the suitability of complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) active pixel sensor (APS) devices for scientific imaging applications. CMOS APS offer a number of advantages over the established charge-coupled device (CCD) technology, primarily in the areas of low power consumption, high-speed parallel readout and random (X-Y) addressing, increased system integration and improved radiation hardness. The investigation used a range of newly designed Test Structures in conjunction with a range of custom developed test equipment to characterise device performance. Initial experimental work highlighted the significant non-linearity in the charge conversion gain (responsivity) and found the read noise to be limited by the kTC component due to resetting of the pixel capacitance. The major experimental study investigated the contribution to dark signal due to hot-carrier injection effects from the in-pixel transistors during read-out and highlighted the importance of the contribution at low signal levels. The quantum efficiency (QE) and cross-talk were also investigated and found to be limited by the pixel fill factor and shallow depletion depth of the photodiode. The work has highlighted the need to design devices to explore the effects of individual components rather than stand-alone imaging devices and indicated further developments are required for APS technology to compete with the CCD for high-end scientific imaging applications. The main areas requiring development are in achieving backside illuminated, deep depletion devices with low dark signal and low noise sampling techniques.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Councile2v TechnologiesGBUnited Kingdo

Design and Characterization of 64K Pixels Chips Working in Single Photon Processing Mode

Progress in CMOS technology and in fine pitch bump bonding has made possible the development of high granularity single photon counting detectors for X-ray imaging. This thesis studies the design and characterization of three pulse processing chips with 65536 square pixels of 55 µm x 55 µm designed in a commercial 0.25 µm 6-metal CMOS technology. The 3 chips share the same architecture and dimensions and are named Medipix2, Mpix2MXR20 and Timepix. The Medipix2 chip is a pixel detector readout chip consisting of 256 x 256 identical elements, each working in single photon counting mode for positive or negative input charge signals. The preamplifier feedback provides compensation for detector leakage current on a pixel by pixel basis. Two identical pulse height discriminators are used to define an energy window. Every event falling inside the energy window is counted with a 13 bit pseudo-random counter. The counter logic, based in a shift register, also behaves as the input/output register for the pixel. Each cell also has an 8-bit configuration register which allows masking, test-enabling and 3-bit individual threshold adjust for each discriminator. The chip can be configured in serial mode and readout either serially or in parallel. Measurements show an electronic noise ~160 e- rms with a gain of ~9 mV/ke-. The threshold spread after equalization of ~120 e- rms brings the full chip minimum detectable charge to ~1100 e-. The analog static power consumption is ~8 µW per pixel with Vdda=2.2 V. The Mpix2MXR20 is an upgraded version of the Medipix2. The main changes in the pixel consist of: an improved tolerance to radiation, improved pixel to pixel threshold uniformity, and a 14-bit counter with overflow control. The chip periphery includes new threshold DACs with smaller step size, improved linearity, and better temperature dependence. Timepix is an evolution of the Mpix2MXR20 which provides independently in each pixel information of arrival time, time-over-threshold or event counting. Timepix uses as a time reference an external clock (Ref_Clk) up to 100 MHz which is distributed all over the pixel matrix during acquisition mode. The preamplifier is improved and there is a single discriminator with 4-bit threshold adjustment in order to reduce the minimum detectable charge limit. Measurements show an electrical noise ~100 e- rms and a gain of ~16.5 mV/ke-. The threshold spread after equalization of ~35 e- rms brings the full chip minimum detectable charge either to ~650 e- with a naked chip (i.e. gas detectors) or ~750 e- when bump-bonded to a detector. The pixel static power consumption is ~13.5 µW per pixel with Vdda=2.2 V and Ref_Clk=80 MHz. This family of chips have been used for a wide variety of applications. During these studies a number of limitations have come to light. Among those are limited energy resolution and surface area. Future developments, such as Medipix3, will aim to address those limitations by carefully exploiting developments in microelectronics

Development of a Full-Field Time-of-Flight Range Imaging System

A full-field, time-of-flight, image ranging system or 3D camera has been developed from a proof-of-principle to a working prototype stage, capable of determining the intensity and range for every pixel in a scene. The system can be adapted to the requirements of various applications, producing high precision range measurements with sub-millimetre resolution, or high speed measurements at video frame rates. Parallel data acquisition at each pixel provides high spatial resolution independent of the operating speed. The range imaging system uses a heterodyne technique to indirectly measure time of flight. Laser diodes with highly diverging beams are intensity modulated at radio frequencies and used to illuminate the scene. Reflected light is focused on to an image intensifier used as a high speed optical shutter, which is modulated at a slightly different frequency to that of the laser source. The output from the shutter is a low frequency beat signal, which is sampled by a digital video camera. Optical propagation delay is encoded into the phase of the beat signal, hence from a captured time variant intensity sequence, the beat signal phase can be measured to determine range for every pixel in the scene. A direct digital synthesiser (DDS) is designed and constructed, capable of generating up to three outputs at frequencies beyond 100 MHz with the relative frequency stability in excess of nine orders of magnitude required to control the laser and shutter modulation. Driver circuits were also designed to modulate the image intensifier photocathode at 50 Vpp, and four laser diodes with a combined power output of 320 mW, both over a frequency range of 10-100 MHz. The DDS, laser, and image intensifier response are characterised. A unique method of measuring the image intensifier optical modulation response is developed, requiring the construction of a pico-second pulsed laser source. This characterisation revealed deficiencies in the measured responses, which were mitigated through hardware modifications where possible. The effects of remaining imperfections, such as modulation waveform harmonics and image intensifier irising, can be calibrated and removed from the range measurements during software processing using the characterisation data. Finally, a digital method of generating the high frequency modulation signals using a FPGA to replace the analogue DDS is developed, providing a highly integrated solution, reducing the complexity, and enhancing flexibility. In addition, a novel modulation coding technique is developed to remove the undesirable influence of waveform harmonics from the range measurement without extending the acquisition time. When combined with a proposed modification to the laser illumination source, the digital system can enhance range measurement precision and linearity. From this work, a flexible full-field image ranging system is successfully realised. The system is demonstrated operating in a high precision mode with sub-millimetre depth resolution, and also in a high speed mode operating at video update rates (25 fps), in both cases providing high (512 512) spatial resolution over distances of several metres

Techniques and Technologies for Earth-twin Discoveries

In this Thesis I present and discuss the work completed during my three and a half years as a PhD student in the Exoplanet Research Group of the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, UK. Most of my work has been in collaboration and partnership with the HARPS3 instrument and the Terra Hunting Experiment. My focus is on the development of new techniques and technologies that are aimed at aiding the discovery of an ‘Earth-twin’ exoplanet. In the context of this work, I use the term Earth-twin to mean an Earth-massed rocky planet orbiting a Sun-like star at a period of around 300 days. I created a pipeline prototype for fitting planetary models to radial velocity (RV) data. The data can contain any number of random or systematic noise sources, and can be poorly sampled. The analysis is conducted in a nested-sampling Bayesian framework and thus allows for the direct statistical comparison of different planetary models given some data set, and produces full posterior estimation for all the parameters of all the models. I used this analysis technique to test the feasibility of using intense ground-based RV surveys to detect Earth-twins, and to compare the results with typical survey cadences. I found that an intense survey reliably and regularly finds a variety of planets, including the Earth-twins, and out-performs the typical survey cadence. The major new technology I have developed is an experiment to measure the geometric positions of the pixels of an optical CCD, and the data analysis pipeline to compute the results. In exoplanet science, precise measurements of the Doppler shift of the stellar spectral lines enable us to confirm the presence of planets. However, at some level of precision, our uncertainty of the detector itself starts to inhibit our detection capability. Hence, if we are to be successful in the discovery of low mass planets, we require knowledge of the sub-pixel structure of our detector. I used the analysis scripts to help plan and design an optical experiment which was then built to analyse a large format optical detector and measure the positions of the pixels. I found the simulation of the experiment can measure the pixel positions to a precision of less than 0.001 pixels, but the experiment was plagued with thermal variations and ultimately was not capable of such precise measurements.STF

Millimeter-Precision Laser Rangefinder Using a Low-Cost Photon Counter

In this book we successfully demonstrate a millimeter-precision laser rangefinder using a low-cost photon counter. An application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) comprises timing circuitry and single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) as the photodetectors. For the timing circuitry, a novel binning architecture for sampling the received signal is proposed which mitigates non-idealities that are inherent to a system with SPADs and timing circuitry in one chip

Optical coherence tomography methods using 2-D detector arrays

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive, non-contact optical technique that allows cross-section imaging of biological tissues with high spatial resolution, high sensitivity and high dynamic range. Standard OCT uses a focused beam to illuminate a point on the target and detects the signal using a single photodetector. To acquire transverse information, transversal scanning of the illumination point is required. Alternatively, multiple OCT channels can be operated in parallel simultaneously; parallel OCT signals are recorded by a two-dimensional (2D) detector array. This approach is known as Parallel-detection OCT. In this thesis, methods, experiments and results using three parallel OCT techniques, including full -field (time-domain) OCT (FF-OCT), full-field swept-source OCT (FF-SS-OCT) and line-field Fourier-domain OCT (LF-FD-OCT), are presented. Several 2D digital cameras of different formats have been used and evaluated in the experiments of different methods. With the LF-FD-OCT method, photography equipment, such as flashtubes and commercial DSLR cameras have been equipped and tested for OCT imaging. The techniques used in FF-OCT and FF-SS-OCT are employed in a novel wavefront sensing technique, which combines OCT methods with a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor (SH-WFS). This combination technique is demonstrated capable of measuring depth-resolved wavefront aberrations, which has the potential to extend the applications of SH-WFS in wavefront-guided biomedical imaging techniques

Proof-of-concept of a single-point Time-of-Flight LiDAR system and guidelines towards integrated high-accuracy timing, advanced polarization sensing and scanning with a MEMS micromirror

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Física (área de especialização em Dispositivos, Microssistemas e Nanotecnologias)The core focus of the work reported herein is the fulfillment of a functional Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensor to validate the direct Time-of-Flight (ToF) ranging concept and the acquisition of critical knowledge regarding pivotal aspects jeopardizing the sensor’s performance, for forthcoming improvements aiming a realistic sensor targeted towards automotive applications. Hereupon, the ToF LiDAR system is implemented through an architecture encompassing both optical and electronical functions and is subsequently characterized under a sequence of test procedures usually applied in benchmarking of LiDAR sensors. The design employs a hybrid edge-emitting laser diode (pulsed at 6kHz, 46ns temporal FWHM, 7ns rise-time; 919nm wavelength with 5nm FWHM), a PIN photodiode to detect the back-reflected radiation, a transamplification stage and two Time-to-Digital Converters (TDCs), with leading-edge discrimination electronics to mark the transit time between emission and detection events. Furthermore, a flexible modular design is adopted using two separate Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs), comprising the transmitter (TX) and the receiver (RX), i.e. detection and signal processing. The overall output beam divergence is 0.4º×1º and an optical peak power of 60W (87% overall throughput) is realized. The sensor is tested indoors from 0.56 to 4.42 meters, and the distance is directly estimated from the pulses transit time. The precision within these working distances ranges from 4cm to 7cm, reflected in a Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) between 12dB and 18dB. The design requires a calibration procedure to correct systematic errors in the range measurements, induced by two sources: the timing offset due to architecture-inherent differences in the optoelectronic paths and a supplementary bias resulting from the design, which renders an intensity dependence and is denoted time-walk. The calibrated system achieves a mean accuracy of 1cm. Two distinct target materials are used for characterization and performance evaluation: a metallic automotive paint and a diffuse material. This selection is representative of two extremes of actual LiDAR applications. The optical and electronic characterization is thoroughly detailed, including the recognition of a good agreement between empirical observations and simulations in ZEMAX, for optical design, and in a SPICE software, for the electrical subsystem. The foremost meaningful limitation of the implemented design is identified as an outcome of the leading-edge discrimination. A proposal for a Constant Fraction Discriminator addressing sub-millimetric accuracy is provided to replace the previous signal processing element. This modification is mandatory to virtually eliminate the aforementioned systematic bias in range sensing due to the intensity dependency. A further crucial addition is a scanning mechanism to supply the required Field-of-View (FOV) for automotive usage. The opto-electromechanical guidelines to interface a MEMS micromirror scanner, achieving a 46º×17º FOV, with the LiDAR sensor are furnished. Ultimately, a proof-of-principle to the use of polarization in material classification for advanced processing is carried out, aiming to complement the ToF measurements. The original design is modified to include a variable wave retarder, allowing the simultaneous detection of orthogonal linear polarization states using a single detector. The material classification with polarization sensing is tested with the previously referred materials culminating in an 87% and 11% degree of linear polarization retention from the metallic paint and the diffuse material, respectively, computed by Stokes parameters calculus. The procedure was independently validated under the same conditions with a micro-polarizer camera (92% and 13% polarization retention).O intuito primordial do trabalho reportado no presente documento é o desenvolvimento de um sensor LiDAR funcional, que permita validar o conceito de medição direta do tempo de voo de pulsos óticos para a estimativa de distância, e a aquisição de conhecimento crítico respeitante a aspetos fundamentais que prejudicam a performance do sensor, ambicionando melhorias futuras para um sensor endereçado para aplicações automóveis. Destarte, o sistema LiDAR é implementado através de uma arquitetura que engloba tanto funções óticas como eletrónicas, sendo posteriormente caracterizado através de uma sequência de testes experimentais comumente aplicáveis em benchmarking de sensores LiDAR. O design tira partido de um díodo de laser híbrido (pulsado a 6kHz, largura temporal de 46ns; comprimento de onda de pico de 919nm e largura espetral de 5nm), um fotodíodo PIN para detetar a radiação refletida, um andar de transamplificação e dois conversores tempo-digital, com discriminação temporal com threshold constante para marcar o tempo de trânsito entre emissão e receção. Ademais, um design modular flexível é adotado através de duas PCBs independentes, compondo o transmissor e o recetor (deteção e processamento de sinal). A divergência global do feixe emitido para o ambiente circundante é 0.4º×1º, apresentando uma potência ótica de pico de 60W (eficiência de 87% na transmissão). O sensor é testado em ambiente fechado, entre 0.56 e 4.42 metros. A precisão dentro das distâncias de trabalho varia entre 4cm e 7cm, o que se reflete numa razão sinal-ruído entre 12dB e 18dB. O design requer calibração para corrigir erros sistemáticos nas distâncias adquiridas devido a duas fontes: o desvio no ToF devido a diferenças nos percursos optoeletrónicos, inerentes à arquitetura, e uma dependência adicional da intensidade do sinal refletido, induzida pela técnica de discriminação implementada e denotada time-walk. A exatidão do sistema pós-calibração perfaz um valor médio de 1cm. Dois alvos distintos são utilizados durante a fase de caraterização e avaliação performativa: uma tinta metálica aplicada em revestimentos de automóveis e um material difusor. Esta seleção é representativa de dois cenários extremos em aplicações reais do LiDAR. A caraterização dos subsistemas ótico e eletrónico é minuciosamente detalhada, incluindo a constatação de uma boa concordância entre observações empíricas e simulações óticas em ZEMAX e elétricas num software SPICE. O principal elemento limitante do design implementado é identificado como sendo a técnica de discriminação adotada. Por conseguinte, é proposta a substituição do anterior bloco por uma técnica de discriminação a uma fração constante do pulso de retorno, com exatidões da ordem sub-milimétrica. Esta modificação é imperativa para eliminar o offset sistemático nas medidas de distância, decorrente da dependência da intensidade do sinal. Uma outra inclusão de extrema relevância é um mecanismo de varrimento que assegura o cumprimento dos requisitos de campo de visão para aplicações automóveis. As diretrizes para a integração de um micro-espelho no sensor concebido são providenciadas, permitindo atingir um campo de visão de 46º×17º. Conclusivamente, é feita uma prova de princípio para a utilização da polarização como complemento das medições do tempo de voo, de modo a suportar a classificação de materiais em processamento avançado. A arquitetura original é modificada para incluir uma lâmina de atraso variável, permitindo a deteção de estados de polarização ortogonais com um único fotodetetor. A classificação de materiais através da aferição do estado de polarização da luz refletida é testada para os materiais supramencionados, culminando numa retenção de polarização de 87% (tinta metálica) e 11% (difusor), calculados através dos parâmetros de Stokes. O procedimento é independentemente validado com uma câmara polarimétrica nas mesmas condições (retenção de 92% e 13%)

Power and spectrally efficient integrated high-speed LED drivers for visible light communication

Recent trends in mobile broadband indicates that the available radio frequency (RF) spectrum will not be enough to support the data requirements of the immediate future. Visible light communication, which uses visible spectrum to transmit wirelessly could be a potential solution to the RF ’Spectrum Crunch’. Thus there is growing interest all over the world in this domain with support from both academia and industry. Visible light communication( VLC) systems make use of light emitting diodes (LEDs), which are semiconductor light sources to transmit information. A number of demonstrators at different data capacity and link distances has been reported in this area. One of the key problems holding this technology from taking off is the unavailability of power efficient, miniature LED drive schemes. Reported demonstrators, mostly using either off the shelf components or arbitrary waveform generators (AWGs) to drive the LEDs have only started to address this problem by adopting integrated drivers designed for driving lighting installations for communications. The voltage regulator based drive schemes provide high power efficiency (> 90 %) but it is difficult to realise the fast switching required to achieve the Mbps or Gbps data rates needed for modern wireless communication devices. In this work, we are exploiting CMOS technology to realise an integrated LED driver for VLC. Instead of using conventional drive schemes (digital to analogue converter (DAC) + power amplifier or voltage regulators), we realised a current steering DAC based LED driver operating at high currents and sampling rates whilst maintaining power efficiency. Compared to a commercial AWG or discrete LED driver, circuit realised utilisng complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology has resulted in area reduction (29mm2). We realised for the first time a multi-channel CMOS LED driver capable of operating up to a 500 MHz sample rate at an output current of 255 mA per channel and >70% power efficiency. We were able to demonstrate the flexibility of the driver by employing it to realise VLC links using micro LEDs and commercial LEDs. Data rates up to 1 Gbps were achieved using this system employing a multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) scheme. We also demonstrated the wavelength division multiplexing ability of the driver using a red/green/blue commercial LED. The first integrated digital to light converter (DLC), where depending on the input code, a proportional number of LEDs are turned ON, realising a data converter in the optical domain, is also an output from this research. In addition, we propose a differential optical drive scheme where two output branches of a current DAC are used to drive two LEDs achieving higher link performance and power efficiency compared to single LED drive