A CMOS SPAD Imager with Collision Detection and 128 Dynamically Reallocating TDCs for Single-Photon Counting and 3D Time-of-Flight Imaging

Per-pixel time-to-digital converter (TDC) architectures have been exploited by single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) sensors to achieve high photon throughput, but at the expense of fill factor, pixel pitch and readout efficiency. In contrast, TDC sharing architecture usually features high fill factor at small pixel pitch and energy efficient...

SPAD imagers for super resolution microscopy

The aim of this research is to explore the potential advantages of SPAD imagers used in microscopy. An ideal microscopy detector requires high sensitivity (high quantum efficiency QE or photon detection probability PDP), photon counting operation, low noise (dark current or dark count rate), timing resolution in the order of 100 ps, frame rate...

Dynamic range extension for photon counting arrays

Confocal microscopes use photomultiplier tubes and hybrid detectors due to their large dynamic range, which typically exceeds the one of single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs). The latter, due to their photon counting operation, are usually limited to an output count rate to 1/T_dead. In this paper, we present a thorough analysis,...