A 32 × 32-Pixel CMOS Imager for Quantum Optics With Per-SPAD TDC, 19.48% Fill-Factor in a 44.64-μm Pitch Reaching 1-MHz Observation Rate

Zarghami, Majid; Gasparini, Leonardo; Parmesan, Luca; Moreno-Garcia, Manuel; Stefanov, Andre; Bessire, Banz; Unternahrer, Manuel; Perenzoni, Matteo (2020). A 32 × 32-Pixel CMOS Imager for Quantum Optics With Per-SPAD TDC, 19.48% Fill-Factor in a 44.64-μm Pitch Reaching 1-MHz Observation Rate. IEEE journal of solid state circuits, 55(10), pp. 2819-2830. IEEE 10.1109/JSSC.2020.3005756

Text A_32__32-Pixel_CMOS_Imager_for_Quantum_Optics_With_Per-SPAD_TDC_19.48_Fill-Factor_in_a_44.64-m_Pitch_Reaching_1-MHz_Observation_Rate.pdf - Published Version Restricted to registered users only Available under License Publisher holds Copyright. Download (3MB)

This article reports the design and characterization of a 32 × 32 single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) time-resolved image sensor for quantum imaging applications fabricated in a 150-nm CMOS standard technology. A per-SPAD time-to-digital converter (TDC) records the spatial cross correlation functions of a flux of entangled photons. Each 44.64-μm pixel with 19.48% fill-factor features a 210.2-ps resolution, 50-ns (8-bit) range TDC with 1.28-LSB differential and 1.92-LSB integral nonlinearity (DNL/INL). The sensor achieves an observation rate of up to 1 MHz through a current-based mechanism that avoids reading empty frames when the photon rates are low. A row-skipping mechanism detects the absence of SPAD activity in a row to increase the duty cycle. These two features require only three transistors in each pixel. The sensor functionality is demonstrated in a quantum imaging experiment that achieves super-resolution.

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