A Lownoise Cmos Spad Pixel With 121 Ps Sptr And 3 Ns Dead Time

• doi: 10.1109/JSTQE.2021.3088216
• title: A Low-Noise CMOS SPAD Pixel With 12.1 Ps SPTR and 3 Ns Dead Time
• publisher: IEEE
• isbn:
• issn: 1558-4542
• rank: 791
• access_type: CCBY - IEEE is not the copyright holder of this material. Please follow the instructions via https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ to obtain full-text articles and stipulations in the API documentation.
• content_type: Journals
• abstract: Single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) have become the sensor of choice in many applications whenever high sensitivity, low noise, and sharp timing performance are required, simultaneously. Recently, SPADs designed in CMOS technology, have yielded moderately good performance in these parameters, but never equaling their counterparts fabricated in highly customized, non-standard technologies. The arguments in favor of CMOS-compatible SPADs were miniaturization, cost and scalability. In this paper, we present the first CMOS SPAD with performance comparable or better than that of the best custom SPADs, to date. The SPAD-based design, fully integrated in 180 nm CMOS technology, achieves a peak photon detection probability (PDP) of 55% at 480 nm with a very broad spectrum spanning from near ultraviolet (NUV) to near infrared (NIR) and a normalized dark count rate (DCR) of 0.2 cps/$\mu$m$^2$, both at 6 V of excess bias. Thanks to a dedicated CMOS pixel circuit front-end, an afterpulsing probability of about 0.1% at a dead time of $\sim$3 ns were achieved. We designed three SPADs with a diameter of 25, 50, and 100 $\mu$m to study the impact of size on the timing jitter and to create a scaling law for SPADs. For these SPADs, a single-photon time resolution (SPTR) of 12.1 ps, 16 ps, and 27 ps (FWHM) was achieved at 6 V of excess bias, respectively. The SPADs operate in a wide range of temperatures, from −65 $^{\circ }$C to 40 $^{\circ }$C, reaching a normalized DCR of 1.6 mcps/$\mu$m$^2$ at 6 V of excess bias for the 25 $\mu$m at −65 $^{\circ }$C. The proposed SPADs are ideal for a wide range of applications, including (quantum) LiDAR, super-resolution microscopy, quantum random number generators, quantum key distribution, fluorescence lifetime imaging, time-resolved Raman spectroscopy, to name a few. All these applications can take advantage of the vastly improved performance of our detectors, while enjoying the opportunities of megapixel resolutions promised by the economy of scale that is offered by CMOS technologies.
• article_number: 9451600
• pdf_url: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=9451600
• html_url: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9451600/
• abstract_url: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9451600/
• publication_title: IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics
• conference_location:
• conference_dates:
• publication_number: 2944
• is_number: 9497052
• publication_year: 2022
• publication_date: March-April 2022
• start_page: 1
• end_page: 9
• citing_paper_count: 42
• citing_patent_count: 0
• download_count: 5164
• insert_date: 20210610
• index_terms:
  • ieee_terms:
    • Single-photon avalanche diodes
    • Temperature measurement
    • Voltage measurement
    • Sensitivity
    • CMOS technology
    • Transistors
    • Delays
  • author_terms:
    • Active reset
    • cascode
    • jitter
    • low noise
    • low power
    • photon detection probability (PDP)
    • pixel
    • quantum key distribution (QKD)
    • single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD)
    • timing
  • dynamic_index_terms:
    • Dead Time
    • Single-photon Avalanche Diode
    • Single Photon Avalanche Diode
    • Single-photon Avalanche Diode Pixel
    • High Performance
    • Economies Of Scale
    • Low Noise
    • Count Rate
    • near-UV
    • Near-ultraviolet
    • CMOS Technology
    • Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy
    • FLIM
    • Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging
    • Noise Performance
    • Quantum Key Distribution
    • Timing Jitter
    • Dark Count Rate
    • Power Consumption
    • Pulse Width
    • Pulsewidth Modulation
    • Pulsewidth
    • Pulse Width Modulation
    • Oscilloscope
    • Photon Flux
    • Photon Flux Density
    • Large Array
    • Second Harmonic Generation
    • Scalable Architecture
    • TCAD Simulation
    • Inter-arrival Time
    • Low Light Levels
• authors:
  • Author Name: Francesco Gramuglia
    Affiliation: Advanced Quantum Architecture Laboratory (AQUA), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Neuchâtel, Switzerland
    Author URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/37086064963
    ID: 37086064963
    Order: 1
    Author Affiliations:
    • Advanced Quantum Architecture Laboratory (AQUA), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Neuchâtel, Switzerland
  • Author Name: Ming-Lo Wu
    Affiliation: Advanced Quantum Architecture Laboratory (AQUA), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Neuchâtel, Switzerland
    Author URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/37089300056
    ID: 37089300056
    Order: 2
    Author Affiliations:
    • Advanced Quantum Architecture Laboratory (AQUA), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Neuchâtel, Switzerland
  • Author Name: Claudio Bruschini
    Affiliation: Advanced Quantum Architecture Laboratory (AQUA), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Neuchâtel, Switzerland
    Author URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/37274823200
    ID: 37274823200
    Order: 3
    Author Affiliations:
    • Advanced Quantum Architecture Laboratory (AQUA), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Neuchâtel, Switzerland
  • Author Name: Myung-Jae Lee
    Affiliation: Post-Silicon Semiconductor Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul, South Korea
    Author URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/37598674000
    ID: 37598674000
    Order: 4
    Author Affiliations:
    • Post-Silicon Semiconductor Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul, South Korea
  • Author Name: Edoardo Charbon
    Affiliation: Advanced Quantum Architecture Laboratory (AQUA), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Neuchâtel, Switzerland
    Author URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/37271353200
    ID: 37271353200
    Order: 5
    Author Affiliations:
    • Advanced Quantum Architecture Laboratory (AQUA), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Neuchâtel, Switzerland

Image Sensor

• sensor_type: CMOS
• resolution: not specified in the text
• dynamic_range: not specified in the text
• pixel_size: 25 µm, 50 µm, and 100 µm
• dark_current: 0.2 cps/µm² at 6 V excess bias; 1.6 mcps/µm² at -65 °C for 25 µm SPAD at 6 V excess bias; up to 4 mcps/µm² at 8 V excess bias at -65 °C

Optical Data

• focal_length: not specified
• aperture: not specified
• field_of_view: not specified
• distortion: not specified

Performance Metrics

• frame_rate: up to 300 Mcps
• signal_to_noise_ratio: not specified in the text
• sensitivity: peak photon detection probability of 55% at 480 nm
• power_consumption: not specified in the text
• noise: normalized dark count rate (DCR) of 0.2 cps/µm² at room temperature

Applications & Benefits

• cell_imaging: the SPADs are suitable for super-resolution microscopy, fluorescence lifetime imaging, and time-resolved Raman spectroscopy
• benefits: high sensitivity, low noise, and sharp timing performance suitable for quantum LiDAR, quantum key distribution, and other applications

Supporting Organizations

• supported_by: Swiss National Science Foundation under Grants 200 021-169 465 and Sinergia CRSII5-177 165.

Manuscript Details

• publication_date: March-April 2022

Relevancy Score

• score: 8
• missing_fields:
  • resolution
  • dynamic_range
  • focal_length
  • aperture
  • field_of_view
  • distortion

Processed JSON Filename

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