Image Sensors World Go to the original article...
Jiaju Ma et al. of Gigajot Technology, Inc. have published a new article titled "Ultra‑high‑resolution quanta image sensor with reliable photon‑number‑resolving and high dynamic range capabilities" in Nature Scientific Reports.
Abstract:
Superior low‑light and high dynamic range (HDR) imaging performance with ultra‑high pixel resolution are widely sought after in the imaging world. The quanta image sensor (QIS) concept was proposed in 2005 as the next paradigm in solid‑state image sensors after charge coupled devices (CCD)and complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) active pixel sensors. This next‑generation image sensor would contain hundreds of millions to billions of small pixels with photon‑number‑resolving and HDR capabilities, providing superior imaging performance over CCD and conventional CMOS sensors. In this article, we present a 163 megapixel QIS that enables both reliable photon‑number‑resolving and high dynamic range imaging in a single device. This is the highest pixel resolution ever reported among low‑noise image sensors with photon‑number‑resolving capability. This QIS was fabricated with a standard, state‑of‑the‑art CMOS process with 2‑layer wafer stacking and backside illumination. Reliable photon‑number‑resolving is demonstrated with an average read noise of 0.35 e‑ rms at room temperature operation, enabling industry leading low‑light imaging performance. Additionally, a dynamic range of 95 dB is realized due to the extremely low noise floor and an extended full‑well capacity of 20k e‑. The design, operating principles, experimental results, and imaging performance of this QIS device are discussed.
Ma, J., Zhang, D., Robledo, D. et al. Ultra-high-resolution quanta image sensor with reliable photon-number-resolving and high dynamic range capabilities. Sci Rep 12, 13869 (2022).
This is an open access article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-17952-z.epdf
