Detecting local light incident angle is a desirable feature for CMOS image sensors for 3D image reconstruction purposes and depth sensing. Advances in the CMOS technologies in the last years have enabled integrated solutions to perform such a job. However, it is still not viable to implement such a feature in regular CMOS image sensors due to the great number of pixels in a cluster to perform incident angle detection. In this paper, a hybrid cluster with only four pixels, instead of eight pixels of previous solutions, that is able to detect both local light intensity, incident angle and Stokes parameters is presented. The technique to detect local incident angle is widely exploited in the literature. Three novelties are explored in this work, the first is the new paradigm in polarization cluster-pixel design, the second is the extended ability of metal shielded pixels to detect both the local light angle and intensity and the third is to determine the Stokes parameters through this sensor. SPICE simulation results show that the existing Quadrature Pixel Cluster (QPC) and Polarization Pixel Cluster (PPC) models are in accordance with experimental results presented in the literature, and thus it was possible to demonstrate similar behavior in the new proposed pixel cluster.
Targeting 3D image reconstruction and depth sensing, a desirable feature for complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors is the ability to detect local light incident angle and the light polarization. In the last years, advances in the CMOS technologies have enabled dedicated circuits to determine these parameters in an image sensor. However, due to the great number of pixels required in a cluster to enable such functionality, implementing such features in regular CMOS imagers is still not viable. The current state-of-the-art solutions require eight pixels in a cluster to detect local light intensity, incident angle and polarization. The technique to detect local incident angle is widely exploited in the literature, and the authors have shown in previous works that it is possible to perform the job with a cluster of only four pixels. In this work, the authors explore three novelties: a mean to determine three of four Stokes parameters, the new paradigm in polarization cluster-pixel design, and the extended ability to detect both the local light angle and intensity. The features of the proposed pixel cluster are demonstrated through simulation program with integrated circuit emphasis (SPICE) of the regular Quadrature Pixel Cluster and Polarization Pixel Cluster models, the results of which are compliant with experimental results presented in the literature.
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