NIT announces WiDy SWIR camera based on InGaAs sensor operating in 900nm - 1700nm range. WiDy SWIR camera uses an InGaAs PD array of 320x256 25um pixels coupled to the NIT NSC0803 WDR ROIC. The DR range of the camera is said to exceed 140dB.
Here is how the world looks in 900-1700nm band:
A Youtube video shows the DR:
This seems quite interesting! What is the lowest photon-input referred temporal and fixed pattern noise, Yang, in photons/pixel?
ReplyDeleteEric, actually the performance is limited by dark current. This sensor is used under room temperature without any TEC. If the dark current is reduced then its noise level will be simialr to SFD pixel design. The FPN is low and of the same amplitude as the Johnson noise in the solar cell mode photodiode.
ReplyDeleteThe advantage of solar cell mode photodiode design is that the DC is not accumulated because no integration. But the sensitivity is limited by the DC due the RoA of the photodiode. This sensor is very suitable for industrial use, plastic sorting, laser beam profiling, etc thanks to its TECless and NUCless operation.
There are 2 papers presented at SPIE DSS, Orlando 2011 and Baltimore 2012. In this product, we have designed our own InGaAs photodiode array.
-yang ni
On their webpage they are talking about 14 bit ADC used for an imager that achieves 140dB. Does that make sense?
ReplyDeleteThe pixel has a Logarithmic response instead of linear one. This means that it reports a relative change in light intensity. If the LSB counts for 1%, then you can see that 120dB can be research with only 1388LSB. The sensor operates very similarly to human eye which is governed by Weber law.
ReplyDelete-yang ni