Analysis of noise in CMOS image sensor based on a unified time-dependent approach

Abstract A detailed time-domain analysis of noise due to thermal, 1/ f and shot noise sources in CMOS active pixel sensors (APS) based on 3T and 4T pixel design is performed. We suggest that the conventional noise analysis based on the frequency domain, usually used for noise calculations of APS’s cannot be strictly applied, because the switched APS circuitry under study cannot be represented as a linear time-invariant system. To calculate explicit noise expressions for noise performance we, therefore, resort to time-dependent circuit models and perform time-domain noise analysis, taking into account the stationary nature of the various noise processes. To accomplish that, we divide the operation cycle of APS to separate time phases, and in these periods of time the relevant circuits can be modeled as linear time-invariant systems represented by simple (time-domain) impulse response functions. Finally, we present and compare between the noise simulation and noise measurement results for both 3T and 4T pixels. The excellent correspondence between the analytic expressions and the measured results corroborate the validity of the theoretical results.

[1]  A. Ziel.  Noise in solid state devices and circuits , 1986 .

[2]  Bernard Courtois,et al.  Design of an APS CMOS Image Sensor for Low Light Level Applications Using Standard CMOS Technology , 2001 .

[3]  Pierre Magnan,et al.  Analysis and reduction of signal readout circuitry temporal noise in CMOS image sensors for low-light levels , 2000 .

[4]  Xinqiao Liu,et al.  A 10000 frames/s CMOS digital pixel sensor , 2001, IEEE J. Solid State Circuits.

[5]  Renato Turchetta,et al.  CMOS Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS) for future vertex detectors , 2006 .

[6]  Gyuseong Cho,et al.  Analysis of noise characteristics for the active pixels in CMOS image sensors for X-ray imaging , 2006 .

[7]  David L. Standley,et al.  Figure-of-merit for CMOS imagers , 2002, IS&T/SPIE Electronic Imaging.

[8]  A. Basu,et al.  Test results of various CMOS image sensor pixels , 2005, Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering, 2005..

[9]  Mijin Kim,et al.  Operation Principles of 0.18-$muhboxm$Four-Transistor CMOS Image Pixels With a Nonfully Depleted Pinned Photodiode , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[10]  N. Mutoh,et al.  Partition noise in CCD signal detection , 1986, 1985 International Electron Devices Meeting.

[11]  Boyd Fowler,et al.  Reset noise reduction in capacitive sensors , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers.

[12]  Yael Nemirovsky,et al.  Noise characterization of the 0.35 /spl mu/m CMOS analog process implemented in regular and SOI wafers , 2004, Proceedings of the 2004 11th IEEE International Conference on Electronics, Circuits and Systems, 2004. ICECS 2004..

[13]  M. Deen,et al.  Signal and noise modeling and analysis of complementary metal-oxide semiconductor active pixel sensors , 2006 .

[14]  C. Leyris,et al.  Impact of Random Telegraph Signal in CMOS Image Sensors for Low-Light Levels , 2006, 2006 Proceedings of the 32nd European Solid-State Circuits Conference.

[15]  Boyd Fowler,et al.  Charge Transfer Noise in Image Sensors , 2007 .

[16]  A. El Gamal,et al.  CMOS image sensors , 2005, IEEE Circuits and Devices Magazine.

[17]  I. Brouk,et al.  Design and Characterization of CMOS/SOI Image Sensors , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[18]  Stuart Horn,et al.  CCD/CMOS hybrid FPA for low light level imaging , 2005, SPIE Optics + Photonics.

[19]  Robert K. Henderson,et al.  Source follower noise limitations in CMOS active pixel sensors , 2004, SPIE Optical Systems Design.

[20]  A. Gamal,et al.  Analysis of 1/f noise in switched MOSFET circuits , 2001 .

[21]  Cory Jung,et al.  Noise analysis of fault tolerant active pixel sensors , 2005, 20th IEEE International Symposium on Defect and Fault Tolerance in VLSI Systems (DFT'05).

[22]  Y. Nemirovsky,et al.  1/f noise in CMOS transistors for analog applications , 2001 .

[23]  S. Kawahito,et al.  Noise analysis of high-gain, low-noise column readout circuits for CMOS image sensors , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[24]  W. F. Kosonocky,et al.  Noise sources in charge-coupled devices , 2003 .

[25]  Kangbok Lee,et al.  The features and characteristics of 5M CMOS image sensor with 1.9/spl times/1.9/spl mu/m/sup 2/ pixels , 2005, IEEE InternationalElectron Devices Meeting, 2005. IEDM Technical Digest..

[26]  Georges Alquié,et al.  Exact noise analysis of a CMOS BDJ APS , 2005, 2005 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems.

[27]  Abbas El Gamal,et al.  Analysis of temporal noise in CMOS photodiode active pixel sensor , 2001, IEEE J. Solid State Circuits.

[28]  Phillip E Allen,et al.  CMOS Analog Circuit Design , 1987 .

[29]  Eric R. Fossum,et al.  CMOS image sensors: electronic camera-on-a-chip , 1997 .

[30]  C. Mead,et al.  White noise in MOS transistors and resistors , 1993, IEEE Circuits and Devices Magazine.

[31]  T. Lule,et al.  Sensitivity of CMOS based imagers and scaling perspectives , 2000 .

[32]  Yael Nemirovsky,et al.  1/f Noise in CMOS transistors for analog applications from subthreshold to saturation , 1998 .

[33]  Amikam Nemirovsky,et al.  A revised model for carrier trapping-detrapping noise , 1997 .

[34]  A. Theuwissen,et al.  Fixed-Pattern Noise Induced by Transmission Gate in Pinned 4T CMOS Image Sensor Pixels , 2006, 2006 European Solid-State Device Research Conference.

[35]  Vinita Vasudevan,et al.  A time-domain technique for computation of noise-spectral density in linear and nonlinear time-varying circuits , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers.