A Spad Image Sensor With Mainsubtdcbased Coincidence Detection

• doi: 10.1109/TCSI.2024.3503422
• title: A SPAD Image Sensor With Main-Sub-TDC-Based Coincidence Detection
• publisher: IEEE
• isbn:
• issn: 1558-0806
• rank: 908
• access_type: LOCKED
• content_type: Journals
• abstract: Light detection and ranging (Lidar) is usually enabled by Single-Photon Avalanche Detector (SPAD) sensors which may be falsely triggered by ambient light. Coincidence detection can suppress the ambient light at the cost of the lateral resolution. A $64\times 64$ SPAD image sensor with coincidence detection is proposed for Lidar. A main-sub time-to-digital converter (TDC), in which the main TDC is used for timestamping the coincidence window and the sub-TDC is used for timestamping the event within the coincidence window, is proposed to avoid the loss of the lateral resolution at a small power cost. A delay-locked loop (DLL) is adopted to generate an analog voltage for maintaining the length of the coincidence window against process-voltage-temperature (PVT) variations. A TDC code correction circuit is proposed to reduce the probability of TDC inter-segment errors to 0.7%. The SPAD image sensor is based on the 3D integration of a SPAD array with a ROIC. The ROIC chip is fabricated in a $0.18\mu $ m CMOS process. Driven by a 250 MHz multi-phase clock and a 100 MHz data readout clock, the chip achieves a maximum frame rate of 35.7 kframe/s, a timing resolution of 0.5 ns, and a timing range of $2\mu $ s. The typical average power consumption of the ROIC is 135.5 mW (@21.7 kframes/s). The measured differential nonlinearity (DNL) ranges from -0.74 to +0.82 least significant bit (LSB), and the integral nonlinearity (INL) ranges from -0.95 to +0.95 LSB.
• article_number: 10766884
• pdf_url: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=10766884
• html_url: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10766884/
• abstract_url: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10766884/
• publication_title: IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers
• conference_location:
• conference_dates:
• publication_number: 8919
• is_number: 10836116
• publication_year: 2025
• publication_date: Jan. 2025
• start_page: 50
• end_page: 60
• citing_paper_count: 0
• citing_patent_count: 0
• download_count: 470
• insert_date: 20241125
• index_terms:
  • ieee_terms:
    • Single-photon avalanche diodes
    • Circuits
    • Power demand
    • Photonics
    • Timing
    • Sensors
    • Laser radar
    • Image sensors
    • Correlation
    • Detectors
  • author_terms:
    • SPAD
    • ROIC
    • coincidence detection
    • LiDAR
    • TDC
  • dynamic_index_terms:
    • Coincidence Detection
    • Single-photon Avalanche Detector
    • Power Consumption
    • Error Probability
    • Window Length
    • Ambient Light
    • Lateral Resolution
    • Least Significant Bit
    • Low Bit
    • Loss Of Resolution
    • CMOS Process
    • Time-to-digital Converter
    • Start Time
    • Figure Of Merit
    • External Signals
    • Dead Time
    • Triggering Event
    • Triggering Effect
    • P-n Junction
    • External Trigger
    • Most Significant Bit
    • High Bit
    • Highest Bit
    • Exposure Window
    • OR Gate
    • Increased Power Consumption
    • Reverse Bias Voltage
    • End Of Window
    • Test Pixel
    • External Clock
    • False Events
    • False Effect
    • Avalanche Photodiode
• authors:
  • Author Name: Chenggong Wan
    Affiliation: School of Integrated Circuits, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
    Author URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/37089317498
    ID: 37089317498
    Order: 1
    Author Affiliations:
    • School of Integrated Circuits, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
  • Author Name: Yi Zhu
    Affiliation: School of Integrated Circuits, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
    Author URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/37086476161
    ID: 37086476161
    Order: 2
    Author Affiliations:
    • School of Integrated Circuits, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
  • Author Name: Yingjie Ma
    Affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology, Key Laboratory of Infrared Imaging Materials and Detectors, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
    Author URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/37085554818
    ID: 37085554818
    Order: 3
    Author Affiliations:
    • State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology, Key Laboratory of Infrared Imaging Materials and Detectors, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
  • Author Name: Xue Li
    Affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology, Key Laboratory of Infrared Imaging Materials and Detectors, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
    Author URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/780946391752870
    ID: 780946391752870
    Order: 4
    Author Affiliations:
    • State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology, Key Laboratory of Infrared Imaging Materials and Detectors, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
  • Author Name: Lixia Zheng
    Affiliation: School of Integrated Circuits, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
    Author URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/38238253000
    ID: 38238253000
    Order: 5
    Author Affiliations:
    • School of Integrated Circuits, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
  • Author Name: Jin Wu
    Affiliation: School of Integrated Circuits, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
    Author URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/37087380279
    ID: 37087380279
    Order: 6
    Author Affiliations:
    • School of Integrated Circuits, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
  • Author Name: Weifeng Sun
    Affiliation: School of Integrated Circuits, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
    Author URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/37422736400
    ID: 37422736400
    Order: 7
    Author Affiliations:
    • School of Integrated Circuits, Southeast University, Nanjing, China

Image Sensor

• sensor_type: SPAD (Single-Photon Avalanche Detector)
• resolution: 64x64 pixels
• dynamic_range: Not specified in the paper
• pixel_size: 50 µm
• dark_current: Not specified in the paper

Optical Data

• focal_length: Not specified in the paper
• aperture: Not specified in the paper
• field_of_view: Not specified in the paper
• distortion: Not specified in the paper

Performance Metrics

• frame_rate: 35.7 kframes/s
• signal_to_noise_ratio: Not specified in the paper
• sensitivity: Not specified in the paper
• shutter_speed: Not specified in the paper
• power_consumption: 135.5 mW
• noise: Differential Nonlinearity (DNL) ranges from -0.74 to +0.82 LSB, Integral Nonlinearity (INL) ranges from -0.95 to +0.95 LSB.

Applications & Benefits

• cell_imaging: Used in Lidar for detecting three-dimensional information of targets.
• benefits: The SPAD image sensor can effectively suppress false triggering caused by ambient light through coincidence detection.

Supporting Organizations

• supported_by: National Key Research and Development Program of China, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Jiangsu Provincial Natural Science Fund, Major Science and Technology Project of Yunnan Province

Manuscript Details

• publication_date: Jan. 2025

Relevancy Score

• score: 9
• missing_fields:
  • dynamic_range
  • pixel_size
  • dark_current
  • focal_length
  • aperture
  • field_of_view
  • distortion
  • signal_to_noise_ratio
  • sensitivity
  • shutter_speed

Processed JSON Filename

request_1482b5f4-5390-45a8-afd0-82649d64e93d-a_spad_image_sensor_with_mainsubtdcbased_coincidence_detection.json