Single-photon avalanche diode imagers in biophotonics

review and outlook

Review (2019)
Author(s)

Claudio Bruschini (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)

Harald Homulle (TU Delft - (OLD)Applied Quantum Architectures, TU Delft - OLD QCD/Charbon Lab)

Michel Antolovic (TU Delft - (OLD)Applied Quantum Architectures, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)

S. Burri (TU Delft - (OLD)Applied Quantum Architectures, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)

E Charbon-Iwasaki-Charbon (TU Delft - OLD QCD/Charbon Lab, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, TU Delft - (OLD)Applied Quantum Architectures)

Research Group
(OLD)Applied Quantum Architectures
Copyright
© 2019 Claudio Bruschini, Harald Homulle, I.M. Antolović, S. Burri, E. Charbon-Iwasaki-Charbon
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-019-0191-5
More Info
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Publication Year
2019
Language
English
Copyright
© 2019 Claudio Bruschini, Harald Homulle, I.M. Antolović, S. Burri, E. Charbon-Iwasaki-Charbon
Research Group
(OLD)Applied Quantum Architectures
Issue number
1
Volume number
8
Pages (from-to)
1-29
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Abstract

Single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) arrays are solid-state detectors that offer imaging capabilities at the level of individual photons, with unparalleled photon counting and time-resolved performance. This fascinating technology has progressed at a very fast pace in the past 15 years, since its inception in standard CMOS technology in 2003. A host of architectures have been investigated, ranging from simpler implementations, based solely on off-chip data processing, to progressively “smarter” sensors including on-chip, or even pixel level, time-stamping and processing capabilities. As the technology has matured, a range of biophotonics applications have been explored, including (endoscopic) FLIM, (multibeam multiphoton) FLIM-FRET, SPIM-FCS, super-resolution microscopy, time-resolved Raman spectroscopy, NIROT and PET. We will review some representative sensors and their corresponding applications, including the most relevant challenges faced by chip designers and end-users. Finally, we will provide an outlook on the future of this fascinating technology.