3D-Stacked SPAD Image Sensor

University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow, and Heriot-Watt University publish a SPIE paper "High-speed vision with a 3D-stacked SPAD image sensor" by Istvan Gyongy, Germán Mora Martín, Alex Turpin, Alice Ruget, Abderrahim Halimi, Robert Henderson, and Jonathan Leach.

"We here consider an advanced direct ToF SPAD imager with a 3D-stacked structure, integrating significant photon processing. The device generates photon timing histograms in-pixel, resulting in a maximum throughput of 100's of giga photons per second. This advance enables 3D frames to be captured at rates in excess of 1000 frames per second, even under high ambient light levels. By exploiting the re-configurable nature of the sensor, higher resolution intensity (photon counting) data may be obtained in alternate frames, and depth upscaled accordingly. We present a compact SPAD camera based on the sensor, enabling high-speed object detection and classification in both indoor and outdoor environments. The results suggest a significant potential in applications requiring fast situational awareness."