title: Architecture and applications of a high resolution gated SPAD image sensor.
abstract: We present the architecture and three applications of the largest resolution image sensor based on single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) published to date. The sensor, fabricated in a high-voltage CMOS process, has a resolution of 512 × 128 pixels and a pitch of 24 μm. The fill-factor of 5% can be increased to 30% with the use of microlenses. For precise control of the exposure and for time-resolved imaging, we use fast global gating signals to define exposure windows as small as 4 ns. The uniformity of the gate edges location is ∼140 ps (FWHM) over the whole array, while in-pixel digital counting enables frame rates as high as 156 kfps. Currently, our camera is used as a highly sensitive sensor with high temporal resolution, for applications ranging from fluorescence lifetime measurements to fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and generation of true random numbers.
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Burri
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Michalet
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Regazzoni
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bruschini
authors.forename: Edoardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Charbon
mesh_terms: D004581:Electronics; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000295:instrumentation*; D007909:Lenses; D008029:Lighting; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D055095:Optics and Photonics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010087:Oxides / Q000737:chemistry; D017785:Photons; D011336:Probability; D012666:Semiconductors; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D010087:Oxides
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