Digital readout integrated circuit (DROIC) implementing time delay and integration (TDI) for scanning type infrared focal plane arrays (IRFPAs)

This paper presents a digital readout integrated circuit (DROIC) implementing time delay and integration (TDI) for scanning type infrared focal plane arrays (IRFPAs) with a charge handling capacity of 44.8 Me− while achieving quantization noise of 198 e− and power consumption of 14.35 mW. Conventional pulse frequency modulation (PFM) method is supported by a single slope ramp ADC technique to have a very low quantization noise together with a low power consumption. The proposed digital TDI ROIC converts the photocurrent into digital domain in two phases; in the first phase, most significant bits (MSBs) are generated by the conventional PFM technique in the charge domain, while in the second phase least significant bits (LSBs) are generated by a single slope ramp ADC in the time domain. A 90 × 8 prototype has been fabricated and verified, showing a significantly improved signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 51 dB for low illumination levels (280,000 collected electrons), which is attributed to the TDI implementation method and very low quantization noise due to the single slope ADC implemented for LSBs. Proposed digital TDI ROIC proves the benefit of digital readouts for scanning arrays enabling smaller pixel pitches, better SNR for the low illumination levels and lower power consumption compared to analog TDI readouts for scanning arrays.

[1]  Xinyang Wang,et al.  A 2.2M CMOS image sensor for high-speed machine vision applications , 2010, Electronic Imaging.

[2]  Timothy E. White,et al.  Digital IR imaging capability for medical applications , 1999, Defense, Security, and Sensing.

[3]  Chih-Cheng Hsieh,et al.  Time-delay integration readout with adjacent pixel signal transfer for CMOS image sensor , 2012, Proceedings of Technical Program of 2012 VLSI Design, Automation and Test.

[4]  Lyale Marr,et al.  Falcon Eye Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR) System , 1987, Other Conferences.

[5]  W. A. Radford,et al.  Third generation FPA development status at Raytheon Vision Systems (Invited Paper) , 2005, SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing.

[6]  Gerald C. Holst,et al.  Testing and evaluation of infrared imaging systems , 1993 .

[7]  Lu Wengao,et al.  Low Power Design of Column Readout Stage for 320x288 Snapshot Infrared ROIC , 2005, 2005 IEEE Conference on Electron Devices and Solid-State Circuits.

[8]  G. Meynants,et al.  Time-Delay-Integration Architectures in CMOS Image Sensors , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[9]  Ron Meyer,et al.  Comparison of IRST systems by SNR , 2014, Defense + Security Symposium.

[10]  Patrick Maillart,et al.  A 25μm pitch LWIR staring focal plane array with pixel-level 15-bit ADC ROIC achieving 2mK NETD , 2010, Security + Defence.

[11]  Hideo Wada,et al.  480 × 8 hybrid HgCdTe infrared focal plane arrays for high-definition television format , 2002 .

[12]  Hong-Yi Huang,et al.  A time-delay-integration CMOS readout circuit for IR scanning , 2002, 9th International Conference on Electronics, Circuits and Systems.

[13]  Herbert Kaplan,et al.  Practical Applications of Infrared Thermal Sensing and Imaging Equipment , 1993 .

[14]  Gérard Destefanis,et al.  Third generation and multicolor IRFPA developments: a unique approach based on DEFIR (Invited Paper) , 2005, SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing.

[15]  Marco Diani,et al.  Development of a panoramic third generation IRST: initial study and experimental work , 2013, Defense, Security, and Sensing.

[16]  Antoni Rogalski,et al.  History of infrared detectors , 2012 .

[17]  Mel Bazes,et al.  Two novel fully complementary self-biased CMOS differential amplifiers , 1991 .

[18]  Itay Shtrichman,et al.  Hybrid dual-color MWIR detector for airborne missile warning systems , 2012, Defense + Commercial Sensing.

[19]  Ashok K. Sood,et al.  Advances in Infrared Detector Array Technology , 2013 .

[20]  Chih-Cheng Hsieh,et al.  Focal-plane-arrays and CMOS readout techniques of infrared imaging systems , 1997, IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. Video Technol..

[21]  Jiangtao Xu,et al.  Modeling and simulation of TDI CMOS image sensors , 2013, Other Conferences.

[22]  니따 요시까즈,et al.  Method and apparatus for ad conversion, semiconductor device for detecting distribution of physical quantity, and electronic apparatus , 2005 .

[23]  Uwe Hoffmann,et al.  High temperature IR-imager with wide dynamic range for industrial process control , 2008, SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing.

[24]  B. Tyrrell,et al.  Time Delay Integration and In-Pixel Spatiotemporal Filtering Using a Nanoscale Digital CMOS Focal Plane Readout , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[25]  Bertrand Misischi,et al.  Low-Power and Compact CMOS APS Circuits for Hybrid Cryogenic Infrared Fast Imaging , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II: Express Briefs.

[26]  Antoni Rogalski,et al.  Third-generation infrared photon detectors , 2003 .

[27]  Melik Yazici,et al.  Wide Range, Process and Temperature Compensated Voltage Controlled Current Source , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers.

[28]  Christopher Fink.  New technologies for HWIL testing of WFOV, large-format FPA sensor systems , 2016, SPIE Defense + Security.

[29]  Kevin C. Liddiard.  Novel concepts for low-cost IR security sensors , 2005, SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing.

[30]  James Endicott,et al.  A CMOS TDI image sensor for Earth observation , 2015, SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications.

[31]  Jiangtao Xu,et al.  A 128-Stage CMOS TDI Image Sensor With On-Chip Digital Accumulator , 2016, IEEE Sensors Journal.

[32]  Fiodor F. Sizov,et al.  576x6 ROIC for MCT LWIR arrays , 2005, SPIE OPTO.

[33]  Ralf Reulke,et al.  CMOS-TDI detector technology for reconnaissance application , 2014, Security and Defence.

[34]  W. Herschel.  XIV. Experiments on the refrangibility of the invisible rays of the sun , 1800, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London.

[35]  Martin Walther,et al.  Multicolor and dual-band IR camera for missile warning and automatic target recognition , 2002, SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing.

[36]  S.C. Wang,et al.  Demonstration of Megapixel Dual-Band QWIP Focal Plane Array , 2010, IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics.

[37]  Philippe Chorier,et al.  Latest Sofradir technology developments usable for space applications , 2006, SPIE Remote Sensing.

[38]  A. Ezerskaia,et al.  Inter- and intra-individual differences in skin hydration and surface lipids measured with mid-infrared spectroscopy , 2016, SPIE BiOS.

[39]  Ömer Ceylan.  Realization of readout integrated circuit (ROIC) for an array of 72x4, P-on-N type HgCdTe long wave infrared detectors , 2008 .

[40]  Melik Yazici,et al.  A new digital readout integrated circuit (DROIC) with pixel parallel A/D conversion and reduced quantization noise , 2014 .

[41]  Melik Yazici,et al.  Design of ROIC based on switched capacitor TDI for MCT LWIR focal plane arrays , 2011, Defense + Commercial Sensing.

[42]  Brian Tyrrell,et al.  Design approaches for digitally dominated active pixel sensors: leveraging Moore's Law scaling in focal plane readout design , 2008, SPIE OPTO.

[43]  Jiangtao Xu,et al.  A 128-Stage Analog Accumulator for CMOS TDI Image Sensor , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers.

[44]  Yacong Zhang,et al.  A CMOS TDI readout circuit for infrared focal plane array , 2008, 2008 9th International Conference on Solid-State and Integrated-Circuit Technology.