Image Sensors World        Go to the original article...

In my role as Industrial Co-chair of IEEE SENSORS 2024 conference to be held this year in Kobe, Japan, in October, I want to invite the participation of the image sensor community. SENSORS is a vibrant conference – 1000 attendees in Vienna for SENSORS 2023 – covering sensors devices and systems. I can testify that there is much overlap in the issues addressed in sensors, but for historical reasons it appears that this is a conference that the image sensor community has not had on their radar. I, along with my Industrial Co-Chair Sozo Yokogawa of SONY Semiconductor, would like to change this.

Our proposal is to highlight image sensor technology at the conference through a combination of focused sessions, keynote speakers, a workshop, tutorial, and networking possibilities. I would like to use as a model the success efforts that I have been involved in over many years as part being involved with the technical committees at IEDM and ISSCC. To accomplish this we would like to reach out to our image sensor community to help promote this goal through networking and through volunteering informally or formally.

The sponsoring IEEE Sensor Council, of which I am an AdCom member, has two initiatives that are of note related to this proposal. One initiative is to increase industrial involvement in a way that prioritizes the healthy technical interaction of industry, academia, and laboratories. The other initiative is to develop  close ties between conference participation and the high-impact council-sponsored Sensor Journal and Sensor Letters, enabling both the publishing of work from the conference in the journals and providing a path where accepted papers in the journals are accepted also for presentation at SENSORS.

I have discussed this informally in our community over the last year with positive comments. I look forward to feedback, but most importantly, support of this goal. I look forward to hearing from you and seeing many of you in Kobe.


Dan McGrath
TechInsights Inc.
AdCom member, IEEE Solid State Circuits Society & IEEE Sensor Council
dmcgrath@ieee.org

Go to the original article...

Image Sensors World        Go to the original article...

 onsemi

Analog Design Engineer      Cork, Ireland      Link

Go to the original article...

Image Sensors World        Go to the original article...

Go to the original article...

Image Sensors World        Go to the original article...

Go to the original article...

Image Sensors World        Go to the original article...

Phys.org covered a recently published paper titled "A 64-pixel mid-infrared single-photon imager based on superconducting nanowire detectors" by a team from NIST in the journal Applied Physics Letters. 

Abstract:

A large-format mid-infrared single-photon imager with very low dark count rates would enable a broad range of applications in fields like astronomy and chemistry. Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) are a mature photon-counting technology as demonstrated by their figures of merit such as high detection efficiencies and very low dark count rates. However, scaling SNSPDs to large array sizes for mid-infrared applications requires sophisticated readout architectures in addition to superconducting materials development. In this work, an SNSPD array design that combines a thermally coupled row-column multiplexing architecture with a thermally coupled time-of-flight transmission line was developed for mid-infrared applications. The design requires only six cables and can be scaled to larger array sizes. The demonstration of a 64-pixel array shows promising results for wavelengths between 3.4 μm and 10 μm, which will enable the use of this single-photon detector technology for a broad range of new applications.

From phys.org: https://phys.org/news/2024-01-wavelength-scientific-exploration-photon-detectors.html

NIST researchers have unveiled a new kind of single-photon detector array that can identify individual particles of light (photons). It's useful for spectroscopy, where scientists observe how molecules absorb different colors (or wavelengths) of light. Each molecule has its own color fingerprint on the light spectrum.

This particular detector can catch single photons in the mid-infrared. Here's how the array works: Multiple super-cold detectors are connected to one another (shown above) in a grid of sorts with an electrical current flowing through. When a photon strikes one of the detectors, it creates a hot spot and acts as a dam to block the current for a short amount of time.

The researchers developed a new technique to determine where, along the columns and rows, the hot spot is. From there, they can create single-photon pictures.

The whole setup is challenging because mid-infrared waves are longer and have less energy to cause the hot spots, compared to visible light, for example. But the scientists have a few tricks up their sleeve and used them to make it work.

Go to the original article...

Image Sensors World        Go to the original article...

Sony Advanced Visual Sensing AG