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Special Issue "Recent Advances in CMOS Image Sensor"

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A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Electronic Sensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 October 2023 | Viewed by 11642

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. De Xing Lioe

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Guest Editor

Research Institute of Electronics, Shizuoka University, 3-5-1 Johoku, Nakaku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 432-8011, Japan
Interests: CMOS image sensor; photodetector; image sensor readout circuits; time-resolved spectroscopy; medical and biological imaging

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The CMOS image sensor has evolved from an image acquisition device to having sensing capabilities. Continuous innovations have seen advancements and improvements in areas including pixel size, read noise, readout speed, efficiency, time resolution, power consumption, and stacking structure. These enable various kinds of applications, such as high-dynamic-range, time-of-flight, single-photon counting, augmented reality/virtual reality, biomedical imaging, and many others. CMOS image sensors exist in a diverse variety of products in our everyday life, from consumer electronics such as mobile phones and digital cameras to automotive, security, medical, and others. These are expected to continuously grow with advanced performance and new functionalities. This Special Issue aims at highlighting the recent developments in CMOS image sensor technology and applications.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

Circuit and pixel designs of CMOS image sensor;
Low noise;
High-dynamic range;
Global shutter;
High-speed imagers;
Photon-counting imagers;
Time-of-flight;
Computational and biomedical imaging;
Microscopy and spectroscopy;
Emerging applications.

Dr. De Xing Lioe
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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Open AccessArticle

Design and Characterization of a Burst Mode 20 Mfps Low Noise CMOS Image Sensor

Xin Yue

and

Eric R. Fossum

Sensors 2023, 23(14), 6356; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23146356 - 13 Jul 2023

Viewed by 1253

Abstract

This paper presents a novel ultra-high speed, high conversion-gain, low noise CMOS image sensor (CIS) based on charge-sweep transfer gates implemented in a standard 180 nm CIS process. Through the optimization of the photodiode geometry and the utilization of charge-sweep transfer gates, the proposed pixels achieve a charge transfer time of less than 10 ns without requiring any process modifications. Moreover, the gate structure significantly reduces the floating diffusion capacitance, resulting in an increased conversion gain of 183 µV/e−. This advancement enables the image sensor to achieve the lowest reported noise of 5.1 e− rms. To demonstrate the effectiveness of both optimizations, a proof-of-concept CMOS image sensor is designed, taped-out and characterized. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in CMOS Image Sensor)

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Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of Microlenses, Color Filters, and Polarizing Filters in CIS for Space Applications

and

Sensors 2023, 23(13), 5884; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23135884 - 25 Jun 2023

Viewed by 531

Abstract

For the last two decades, the CNES optoelectronics detection department and partners have evaluated space environment effects on a large panel of CMOS image sensors (CIS) from a wide range of commercial foundries and device providers. Many environmental tests have been realized in order to provide insights into detection chain degradation in modern CIS for space applications. CIS technology has drastically improved in the last decade, reaching very high performances in terms of quantum efficiency (QE) and spectral selectivity. These improvements are obtained thanks to the introduction of various components in the pixel optical stack, such as microlenses, color filters, and polarizing filters. However, since these parts have been developed only for commercial applications suitable for on-ground environment, it is crucial to evaluate if these technologies can handle space environments for future space imaging missions. There are few results on that robustness in the literature. The objective of this article is to give an overview of CNES and partner experiments from numerous works, showing that the performance gain from the optical stack is greater than the degradation induced by the space environment. Consequently, optical stacks can be used for space missions because they are not the main contributor to the degradation in the detection chain. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in CMOS Image Sensor)

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Open AccessArticle

Resolving Multi-Path Interference in Compressive Time-of-Flight Depth Imaging with a Multi-Tap Macro-Pixel Computational CMOS Image Sensor

and

Sensors 2022, 22(7), 2442; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22072442 - 22 Mar 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2061

Abstract

Multi-path interference causes depth errors in indirect time-of-flight (ToF) cameras. In this paper, resolving multi-path interference caused by surface reflections using a multi-tap macro-pixel computational CMOS image sensor is demonstrated. The imaging area is implemented by an array of macro-pixels composed of four subpixels embodied by a four-tap lateral electric field charge modulator (LEFM). This sensor can simultaneously acquire 16 images for different temporal shutters. This method can reproduce more than 16 images based on compressive sensing with multi-frequency shutters and sub-clock shifting. In simulations, an object was placed 16 m away from the sensor, and the depth of an interference object was varied from 1 to 32 m in 1 m steps. The two reflections were separated in two stages: coarse estimation based on a compressive sensing solver and refinement by a nonlinear search to investigate the potential of our sensor. Relative standard deviation (precision) and relative mean error (accuracy) were evaluated under the influence of photon shot noise. The proposed method was verified using a prototype multi-tap macro-pixel computational CMOS image sensor in single-path and dual-path situations. In the experiment, an acrylic plate was placed 1 m or 2 m and a mirror 9.3 m from the sensor. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in CMOS Image Sensor)

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Open AccessArticle

A Dual-Mode 303-Megaframes-per-Second Charge-Domain Time-Compressive Computational CMOS Image Sensor

and

Sensors 2022, 22(5), 1953; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22051953 - 02 Mar 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4245

Abstract

An ultra-high-speed computational CMOS image sensor with a burst frame rate of 303 megaframes per second, which is the fastest among the solid-state image sensors, to our knowledge, is demonstrated. This image sensor is compatible with ordinary single-aperture lenses and can operate in dual modes, such as single-event filming mode or multi-exposure imaging mode, by reconfiguring the number of exposure cycles. To realize this frame rate, the charge modulator drivers were adequately designed to suppress the peak driving current taking advantage of the operational constraint of the multi-tap charge modulator. The pixel array is composed of macropixels with 2 × 2 4-tap subpixels. Because temporal compressive sensing is performed in the charge domain without any analog circuit, ultrafast frame rates, small pixel size, low noise, and low power consumption are achieved. In the experiments, single-event imaging of plasma emission in laser processing and multi-exposure transient imaging of light reflections to extend the depth range and to decompose multiple reflections for time-of-flight (TOF) depth imaging with a compression ratio of 8× were demonstrated. Time-resolved images similar to those obtained by the direct-type TOF were reproduced in a single shot, while the charge modulator for the indirect TOF was utilized. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in CMOS Image Sensor)

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Review

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Open AccessReview

Modeling for Single-Photon Avalanche Diodes: State-of-the-Art and Research Challenges

and

Sensors 2023, 23(7), 3412; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23073412 - 24 Mar 2023

Viewed by 1877

Abstract

With the growing importance of single-photon-counting (SPC) techniques, researchers are now designing high-performance systems based on single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs). SPADs with high performances and low cost allow the popularity of SPC-based systems for medical and industrial applications. However, few efforts were put into the design optimization of SPADs due to limited calibrated models of the SPAD itself and its related circuits. This paper provides a perspective on improving SPAD-based system design by reviewing the development of SPAD models. First, important SPAD principles such as photon detection probability (PDP), dark count rate (DCR), afterpulsing probability (AP), and timing jitter (TJ) are discussed. Then a comprehensive discussion of various SPAD models focusing on each of the parameters is provided. Finally, important research challenges regarding the development of more advanced SPAD models are summarized, followed by the outlook for the future development of SPAD models and emerging SPAD modeling methods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in CMOS Image Sensor)

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