A 0.7e-rms-temporal-readout-noise CMOS image sensor for low-light-level imaging

Yue Chen; Yang Xu; Youngcheol Chae; Adri Mierop; Xinyang Wang; Albert Theuwissen

doi:10.1109/ISSCC.2012.6177059

A 0.7e^-_rms-temporal-readout-noise CMOS image sensor for low-light-level imaging

Yue Chen, Yang Xu, Youngcheol Chae, Adri Mierop, Xinyang Wang, Albert Theuwissen

Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

65 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

For low-light-level imaging, the performance of a CMOS image sensor (CIS) is usually limited by the temporal readout noise (TRN) generated from its analog readout circuit chain. Although a sub-electron TRN level can be achieved with a high-gain pixel-level amplifier, the pixel uniformity is highly impaired up to a few percent by its open-loop amplifier structure [1]. The TRN can be suppressed without this penalty by employing either a high-gain column-level amplifier [2] or a correlated multiple sampling (CMS) technique [3-5]. However, only 1-to-2 electron TRN level has been reported with the individual use of these approaches [2-5], and the low-frequency noise of the in-pixel source follower i.e. 1/fand RTS noise is a further limitation. Therefore, by implementing a high-gain column-level amplifier and CMS technique together with an in-pixel buried-channel source follower (BSF) [6], the TRN level can be reduced even further.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	2012 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, ISSCC 2012 - Digest of Technical Papers
Pages	384-385
Number of pages	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/ISSCC.2012.6177059
Publication status	Published - 2012
Event	59th International Solid-State Circuits Conference, ISSCC 2012 - San Francisco, CA, United States Duration: 2012 Feb 19 → 2012 Feb 23

Publication series

Name	Digest of Technical Papers - IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference
Volume	55
ISSN (Print)	0193-6530

Other

Other	59th International Solid-State Circuits Conference, ISSCC 2012
Country/Territory	United States
City	San Francisco, CA
Period	12/2/19 → 12/2/23

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Access to Document

10.1109/ISSCC.2012.6177059

Cite this

Chen, Y., Xu, Y., Chae, Y., Mierop, A., Wang, X., & Theuwissen, A. (2012). A 0.7e^-_rms-temporal-readout-noise CMOS image sensor for low-light-level imaging. In 2012 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, ISSCC 2012 - Digest of Technical Papers (pp. 384-385). [6177059] (Digest of Technical Papers - IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference; Vol. 55). https://doi.org/10.1109/ISSCC.2012.6177059

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abstract = "For low-light-level imaging, the performance of a CMOS image sensor (CIS) is usually limited by the temporal readout noise (TRN) generated from its analog readout circuit chain. Although a sub-electron TRN level can be achieved with a high-gain pixel-level amplifier, the pixel uniformity is highly impaired up to a few percent by its open-loop amplifier structure [1]. The TRN can be suppressed without this penalty by employing either a high-gain column-level amplifier [2] or a correlated multiple sampling (CMS) technique [3-5]. However, only 1-to-2 electron TRN level has been reported with the individual use of these approaches [2-5], and the low-frequency noise of the in-pixel source follower i.e. 1/fand RTS noise is a further limitation. Therefore, by implementing a high-gain column-level amplifier and CMS technique together with an in-pixel buried-channel source follower (BSF) [6], the TRN level can be reduced even further.",

author = "Yue Chen and Yang Xu and Youngcheol Chae and Adri Mierop and Xinyang Wang and Albert Theuwissen",

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Chen, Y, Xu, Y, Chae, Y, Mierop, A, Wang, X & Theuwissen, A 2012, A 0.7e^-_rms-temporal-readout-noise CMOS image sensor for low-light-level imaging. in 2012 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, ISSCC 2012 - Digest of Technical Papers., 6177059, Digest of Technical Papers - IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, vol. 55, pp. 384-385, 59th International Solid-State Circuits Conference, ISSCC 2012, San Francisco, CA, United States, 12/2/19. https://doi.org/10.1109/ISSCC.2012.6177059

A 0.7e^-_rms-temporal-readout-noise CMOS image sensor for low-light-level imaging. / Chen, Yue; Xu, Yang; Chae, Youngcheol et al.

2012 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, ISSCC 2012 - Digest of Technical Papers. 2012. p. 384-385 6177059 (Digest of Technical Papers - IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference; Vol. 55).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

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AB - For low-light-level imaging, the performance of a CMOS image sensor (CIS) is usually limited by the temporal readout noise (TRN) generated from its analog readout circuit chain. Although a sub-electron TRN level can be achieved with a high-gain pixel-level amplifier, the pixel uniformity is highly impaired up to a few percent by its open-loop amplifier structure [1]. The TRN can be suppressed without this penalty by employing either a high-gain column-level amplifier [2] or a correlated multiple sampling (CMS) technique [3-5]. However, only 1-to-2 electron TRN level has been reported with the individual use of these approaches [2-5], and the low-frequency noise of the in-pixel source follower i.e. 1/fand RTS noise is a further limitation. Therefore, by implementing a high-gain column-level amplifier and CMS technique together with an in-pixel buried-channel source follower (BSF) [6], the TRN level can be reduced even further.

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Chen Y, Xu Y, Chae Y, Mierop A, Wang X, Theuwissen A. A 0.7e^-_rms-temporal-readout-noise CMOS image sensor for low-light-level imaging. In 2012 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, ISSCC 2012 - Digest of Technical Papers. 2012. p. 384-385. 6177059. (Digest of Technical Papers - IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference). doi: 10.1109/ISSCC.2012.6177059