Readout Architectures for High Efficiency in Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting Experiments—Analysis and Review (original) (raw)
Related papers
2006
The design and characterization of an imaging sensor based on single photon avalanche diodes is presented. The sensor was fully integrated in a 0.35µm CMOS technology. The core of the imager is an array of 4x112 pixels that independently and simultaneously detect the arrival time of photons with picosecond accuracy. A novel event-driven readout scheme allows parallel column-wise and non-sequential, on-demand row-wise operation. Both time-correlated and time-uncorrelated measurements are supported in the sensor. The readout scheme is scalable and requires only 11 transistors per pixel with a pitch of 25µm. A number of standard performance measurements for the imager are presented in the paper. An average dark count rate of 6Hz and 750Hz are reported at room temperature respectively for an active area diameter of 4µm and 10µm, while the dead time is 40ns with negligible crosstalk. A timing resolution better than 80ps over the entire integrated array makes this technique ideal for a fully integrated high resolution streak camera, thus enabling fast TCSPC experiments. Applications requiring low noise, picosecond timing accuracies, and measurement parallelism are prime candidates for this technology. Examples of such applications include bioimaging at cellular and molecular level based on fluorescence lifetime imaging and/or, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, as well as fast optical imaging, optical rangefinders, LIDAR, and low light level imagers.
A 192×128 Time Correlated Single Photon Counting Imager in 40nm CMOS Technology
ESSCIRC 2018 - IEEE 44th European Solid State Circuits Conference (ESSCIRC), 2018
A 192 x 128 pixel single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) time-resolved single photon counting (TCPSC) image sensor is implemented in STMicroelectronics 40nm CMOS technology. The 13 % fill-factor, 18.4 x 9.2 µm pixel contains a 33 ps resolution, 135 ns full-scale, 12-bit time to digital converter (TDC) with 0.9 LSB differential and 8.7 LSB integral nonlinearity (DNL/INL). The sensor achieves a mean 219 ps fullwidth half maximum (FWHM) impulse response function (IRF) and a 5 mW core power consumption and is operable at up to 18.6 kfps. Cylindrical microlenses with a concentration factor of 3.15 increase the fill-factor to 41%. The median dark count rate (DCR) is 25 Hz at 1.5 V excess bias. Fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) results are presented. I.
Storage and Retrieval for Image and Video Databases, 2000
ABSTRACT, The design and characterization of an imaging,sensor based on single,photon avalanche,diodes is presented. The sensor was fully integrated in a 0.35µm CMOS technology. The core of the imager,is an array of 4x112 pixels that independently,and simultaneously detect the arrival time of photons,with picosecond,accuracy. A novel event-driven readout scheme,allows parallel column-wise and non-sequential, on-demand row-wise operation. Both time-correlated and time-uncorrelated
Review of Scientific Instruments, 2016
In recent years, lifetime measurements by means of the Time Correlated Single Photon Counting (TC-SPC) technique have led to a significant breakthrough in medical and biological fields. Unfortunately, the many advantages of TCSPC-based approaches come along with the major drawback of a relatively long acquisition time. The exploitation of multiple channels in parallel could in principle mitigate this issue, and at the same time it opens the way to a multi-parameter analysis of the optical signals, e.g., as a function of wavelength or spatial coordinates. The TCSPC multichannel solutions proposed so far, though, suffer from a tradeoff between number of channels and performance, and the overall measurement speed has not been increased according to the number of channels, thus reducing the advantages of having a multichannel system. In this paper, we present a novel readout architecture for bi-dimensional, high-density Single Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) arrays, specifically designed to maximize the throughput of the whole system and able to guarantee an efficient use of resources. The core of the system is a routing logic that can provide a dynamic connection between a large number of SPAD detectors and a much lower number of high-performance acquisition channels. A key feature of our smart router is its ability to guarantee high efficiency under any operating condition.
Optics Express, 2018
Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting (TCSPC) is an essential tool in many scientific applications, where the recording of optical pulses with picosecond precision is required. Unfortunately, a key issue has to be faced: distortion phenomena can affect TCSPC experiments at high count rates. In order to avoid this problem, TCSPC experiments have been commonly carried out by limiting the maximum operating frequency of a measurement channel below 5% of the excitation frequency, leading to a long acquisition time. Recently, it has been demonstrated that matching the detector dead time to the excitation period allows to keep distortion around zero regardless of the rate of impinging photons. This solution paves the way to unprecedented measurement speed in TCSPC experiments. In this scenario, the front-end circuits that drive the detector play a crucial role in determining the performance of the system, both in terms of measurement speed and timing performance. Here we present two fully integrated front-end circuits for Single Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPADs): a fast Active Quenching Circuit (AQC) and a fully-differential current pickup circuit. The AQC can apply very fast voltage variations, as short as 1.6ns, to reset external custom-technology SPAD detectors. A fast reset, indeed, is a key parameter to maximize the measurement speed. The current pickup circuit is based on a fully differential structure which allows unprecedented rejection of disturbances that typically affect SPAD-based systems at the end of the dead time. The circuit permits to sense the current edge resulting from a photon detection with picosecond accuracy and precision even a few picoseconds after the end of the dead time imposed by the AQC. This is a crucial requirement when the system is operated at high rates. Both circuits have been deeply characterized, especially in terms of achievable measurement speed and timing performance.
A CMOS 64մ8 Single Photon Avalanche Diode Array with Event-Driven Readout
This paper presents a CMOS array of 64 48 pixels capable of detecting single photons with timing accuracies better than 80ps. Upon photon arrival, a digital pulse is generated and routed by an event-driven digital readout scheme to a specific location for further processing. This method allows non-sequential row-wise and simultaneous column-wise detection while preserving photon arrival timing information. The readout scheme is scalable and it is shown to have minimal impact on timing accuracy. Time-correlated fluorescence spectroscopy and optical rangefinders are among the target applications for this technology.
A 32x32-pixel array with in-pixel photon counting and arrival time measurement in the analog domain
Solid-State Circuits European Conference, 2009
A Time-to-Amplitude Converter (TAC) with embedded analog-to-digital conversion is implemented in a 130-nm CMOS imaging technology. The proposed module is conceived for Single-Photon Avalanche Diode imagers and can operate both as a TAC or as an analog counter, thus allowing both time-correlated or time-uncorrelated imaging operation. A single-ramp, 8-bit ADC with two memory banks to allow high-speed, time-interleaved operation is
IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, 2014
We present a compact and high-performance timecorrelated single-photon counting detection module, based on a monolithic CMOS chip with an array of 16 channels, each composed by a 20 μm diameter single-photon avalanche diode and a time-to-digital converter. All 16 channels are independent and provide single-photon sensitivity in the visible and NIR wavelength range, from 350 to 950 nm (with a peak 45% detection efficiency at 450 nm), 10 ps photon-timing resolution, 160 ns full-scale range, better than 70 ps (full-width at half maximum) precision, and a differential non-linearity better than 0.015 LSB [root mean square (rms)], i.e., 150 fs (rms). The module requires just an USB 2.0 link for data-communication to a remote computer and power-supply, and it proves to be the best candidate for a wide variety of multichannel, low-power, compact, photon-counting, and photon-timing applications.
32-CHANNEL Time-Correlated-Single-Photon-Counting System for High-Throughput Lifetime Imaging
Review of Scientific Instruments, 2017
Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting (TCSPC) is a very efficient technique for measuring weak and fast optical signals, but it is mainly limited by the relatively "long" measurement time. Multichannel systems have been developed in recent years aiming to overcome this limitation by managing several detectors or TCSPC devices in parallel. Nevertheless, if we look at state-of-the-art systems, there is still a strong trade-off between the parallelism level and performance: the higher the number of channels, the poorer the performance. In 2013, we presented a complete and compact 32 × 1 TCSPC system, composed of an array of 32 single-photon avalanche diodes connected to 32 time-to-amplitude converters, which showed that it was possible to overcome the existing trade-off. In this paper, we present an evolution of the previous work that is conceived for high-throughput fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy. This application can be addressed by the new system thanks to a centralized logic, fast data management and an interface to a microscope. The new conceived hardware structure is presented, as well as the firmware developed to manage the operation of the module. Finally, preliminary results, obtained from the practical application of the technology, are shown to validate the developed system.
Advanced Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting Techniques
Journal of Microscopy, 2006
Time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) is based on the detection of single photons of a periodic light signal, measurement of the detection time of the photons, and the build-up of the photon distribution versus the time in the signal period. TCSPC achieves a near ideal counting efficiency and transit-time-spread-limited time resolution for a given detector. The drawback of traditional TCSPC is the low count rate, long acquisition time, and the fact that the technique is one-dimensional, i.e. limited to the recording of the pulse shape of light signals. We present an advanced TCSPC technique featuring multi-dimensional photon acquisition and a count rate close to the capability of currently available detectors. The technique is able to acquire photon distributions versus wavelength, spatial coordinates, and the time on the ps scale, and to record fast changes in the fluorescence lifetime and fluorescence intensity of a sample. Biomedical applications of advanced TCSPC techniques are time-domain optical tomography, recording of transient phenomena in biological systems, spectrally resolved fluorescence lifetime imaging, FRET experiments in living cells, and the investigation of dye-protein complexes by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. We demonstrate the potential of the technique for selected applications.