X-FAB Silicon Foundries announces the availability of APD and SPAD devices for implementation in the company’s 180nm high-voltage XH018 process. The APD has a high linear gain, and is fully scalable - going from just ten to several hundred micrometer dimensions. The proprietary X-FAB quenching circuit used in the SPAD results in a dead time of less than 15ns. In addition, its low dark count rate (less than 100 counts/s/µm²) means that it is less susceptible to thermal noise. The PDP of the SPAD is maintained across a wide range of wavelengths (e.g. 40% at 400nm). Furthermore, the low breakdown voltage (less than 20V) that has been achieved.
The X-FAB APD and SPAD can be utilized in a broad spectrum of different applications - including proximity sensing, LiDAR, time of flight (ToF), medical imaging (CT and PET) and scientific research. Being AEC-Q100 compliant, they are suitable for deployment within automotive systems.
Which pixel size?
ReplyDeletepitch is 23.19 µm, optical active is 10 µm
DeleteSorry, wrong number. The correct pitch is 21.28 µm and the fill factor 18.1%.
DeleteWhat is the PDP for NIR? For example at 940nm
ReplyDeleteWhat is the required dead time of the quenching for a PDP of 1% at typical daylight (0.1 W/cm²) for such a 10 µm diameter SPAD, to not run in saturation (max count rate)?
ReplyDeleteOnce you can answer this, you might loose the interrest in high PDP for applications with "uncontrolled" light conditions. With a filter you can gain about two orders of magnitude (reduce 0.1 W/cm² to 0.001 W/cm², as you still need a gap to let your 940 nm light through) in ambient suppression. Still a PDP of 1% gives you a lot counts and your system is likely far from linear for this operating condition. A low PDP can even help you in such cases.