The sensor has a resolution of 256 x 256 pixels and an image size of 2.5 x 2.5 centimeters, translating into 100um pixels. The reported DR is 90dB. The sensor supports both global and rolling shutter. The chip is produced in 0.5um CMOS process.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Fraunhofer Institute Developed Wide Temperature Range Sensor
Fraunhofer Press, Photonics.com: The Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems IMS in Duisburg has developed a CMOS image sensor for an industrial customer which can operate at temperatures ranging from -40 to +115 degrees Celsius. The research scientists have succeeded in developing pixels which exhibit an extremely low dark current. This reduction makes it possible to capture high-quality images even in extreme heat.
The sensor has a resolution of 256 x 256 pixels and an image size of 2.5 x 2.5 centimeters, translating into 100um pixels. The reported DR is 90dB. The sensor supports both global and rolling shutter. The chip is produced in 0.5um CMOS process.
The sensor has a resolution of 256 x 256 pixels and an image size of 2.5 x 2.5 centimeters, translating into 100um pixels. The reported DR is 90dB. The sensor supports both global and rolling shutter. The chip is produced in 0.5um CMOS process.
Two things are mentioned in the press release :
ReplyDelete- the new imager has a low dark current, how low is a low dark current ?
- a CCD fails at temperatures higher than 60 deg.C. This ABSOLUTELY not correct. I operated CCDs up to 180 deg.C during my cosmic-ray radiation experiments without any problem.
too many fake annoncement today, what a pitty !
ReplyDeleteI saw the presentation at ESSCIRC some days ago (it should be the same). The principle is, I would say, trivial: the enhanced FWC is achieved by a large (>photodiode!) capacitor on the SF node. The low dark current by removing the surface-related issues with a grounded p-diffusion on top, bringing to low resp at lower wavelenghts.
ReplyDeletewhat kind of applications in machine vision needs a so large pixel size and so low resolution ??
ReplyDelete"temperatures ranging from -40 to +115 degrees Celsius" is this ambient or junction temperature ??
ReplyDelete"The low dark current by removing the surface-related issues with a grounded p-diffusion" So is this a pinned photodiode, which is fully depleted and allows for real CDS? Or do they have a non-fully depleted photodiode? Both is nothing special and/or new, right?
ReplyDeleteI think (!!!) it is a classical 3T pixel of which part of the photodiode has a p+ pinning layer. In that case it is not a 4T pixel, but still a classical 3T with a lower dark current. I have no idea whether the structure underneath the p+ is depleted or not. For dark current reasons full depletion is not necessary. I have not seen any pixel structure/lay-out/architecture, so what is mentioned here is a guess.
ReplyDeleteFrom the ESSCIRC paper:
ReplyDelete* It's a classical 3T pixel with a "shutter" transistor between the PD and the SF, and an antiblooming transistor. The device is described in a JSSCC paper from July 2008 (Durini et al.).
* The n-well is not fully depleted
* Dark current: "The standard n-well PD delivers 750fA at room temperature (25°C ) in contrast to the 100fA delivered by the BPD of the same area, while delivering 400pA at 110°C in contrast to the 76pA delivered by the BPD."
The p+ is the conventional S/D implant, no pinning...
ReplyDelete@ ambient or junction
ReplyDeleteI'd say ambient. Probably the numbers aren't precise anyway since this is a publicity announcement, so maybe the junction temperature at the maximum ambient is a little or even a lot higher.