Gated SPAD Arrays for Single-Photon Time-Resolved Imaging and Spectroscopy

Conca, Enrico; Cusini, Iris; Severini, Fabio; Lussana, Rudi; Zappa, Franco; Villa, Federica

doi:10.1109/jphot.2019.2952670

Cited by 13 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 17 publications

(18 reference statements)

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“…An effective way of measuring optical crosstalk is by operating photon‐timing SPAD arrays in dark environment, and by arbitrarily choosing a pixel as “aggressor;” for each “victim” pixel a histogram of the difference between “aggressor” and “victim” triggering times is built. [ 79,80 ] Moreover, the expected triangular cross‐correlation in the absence of crosstalk was subtracted to eliminate spurious coincidences introduced by dark counts. The resulting histogram contains only the N xy counts due to crosstalk, which were used to compute the crosstalk probability X as:

X = \frac{N_{x y}}{N_{x} + N_{y}}

where N x and N y are the total counts accumulated in “aggressor” and “victim” pixels, respectively.…”

Section: Discussion On Spad Performance For Quantum Imaging and Micro...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[78] An effective way of measuring optical crosstalk is by operating photon-timing SPAD arrays in dark environment, and by arbitrarily choosing a pixel as "aggressor;" for each "victim" pixel a histogram of the difference between "aggressor" and "victim" triggering times is built. [79,80] Moreover, the expected triangular cross-correlation in the absence of crosstalk was subtracted to eliminate spurious coincidences introduced by dark counts. The [54,65,81,82] For completeness, PDPs related to ICCD PI-MAX4-III Gen and EMCCD ANDOR iXon3 are added.…”

Section: Crosstalkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In point of fact, fill-factor of SPAD pixels implemented in CMOS technologies is partially limited by guard rings surrounding the sensitive area to prevent edge breakdown. Still, it is the in-pixel electronics to be the most area-consuming, causing fill-factor to drop even below 5% in cases of large in-pixel electronics, [79] compared to cases above 70%, [53,57] in which the in-pixel electronics was either limited to a simple low-area consuming quenching resistor, [53] or moved aside the sensitive area (because of the low-number of pixels). [57] Of course, low fill-factor values negatively impact on the overall sensor detection capability, but can be considered beneficial in terms of crosstalk, whose effect becomes less detrimental as the distance among detectors increases.…”

Section: Detection Efficiencymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Single Photon Avalanche Diode Arrays for Quantum Imaging and Microscopy

et al. 2021

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Quantum imaging and microscopy profit from quantum correlations and entanglement to image objects and samples with resolution and sensitivity that goes far beyond what can be achieved through classical optics. In order to carry out these techniques, suitable detectors with specific features must be employed. This paper aims to highlight the importance of sensors based on single photon avalanche diodes (SPAD) in quantum imaging and microscopy applications, paving the way for the next-generation ideal quantum imager. After reviewing the main techniques (based on quantum physics principles) for improving the resolution and sensitivity of a sample image, the pros and cons of different sensors, such as avalanche photodiodes (APDs), and the intensified and electron-multiplying charge coupled devices (ICCDs and EMCCDs), are identified. Then the analysis mainly focuses on SPAD-based detectors, identified as the best candidates for quantum imaging, critically discussing the requirements and performance, also in relation to already existing SPAD-based architectures with specific features fitting the application. Eventually, next-generation quantum imagers should integrate together all the best architectural choices herewith presented, so as to detect photon coincidences and to perform efficient event-driven readout, also by exploiting a suitable technology and SPAD design to optimize the discussed detection performance.

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X = \frac{N_{x y}}{N_{x} + N_{y}}

where N x and N y are the total counts accumulated in “aggressor” and “victim” pixels, respectively.…”

Section: Discussion On Spad Performance For Quantum Imaging and Micro...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Crosstalkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Detection Efficiencymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Single Photon Avalanche Diode Arrays for Quantum Imaging and Microscopy

et al. 2021

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“…The 128 × 1 SPAD array presented in [ 77 , 78 ] designed for various time-resolved applications, such as 3D ranging [ 79 ], Diffuse Optical Tomography (DOT) [ 80 ], quantum experiments [ 81 ], FLIM [ 64 ], and Raman spectroscopy, performs both photon-counting 2D “intensity” images and photon timing 3D (time-resolved) maps. It is fabricated in a 0.35 µm high-voltage CMOS technology and, as shown in Figure 14 a, each pixel includes a SPAD with its front-end quenching and sensing circuit, an 8-bit counter, a 12-bit TDC, and internal memories.…”

Section: Review Of Spad Arrays For Raman Spectroscopymentioning

confidence: 99%

Single Photon Avalanche Diode Arrays for Time-Resolved Raman Spectroscopy

Madonini

Villa

2021

Sensors

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The detection of peaks shifts in Raman spectroscopy enables a fingerprint reconstruction to discriminate among molecules with neither labelling nor sample preparation. Time-resolved Raman spectroscopy is an effective technique to reject the strong fluorescence background that profits from the time scale difference in the two responses: Raman photons are scattered almost instantaneously while fluorescence shows a nanoseconds time constant decay. The combination of short laser pulses with time-gated detectors enables the collection of only those photons synchronous with the pulse, thus rejecting fluorescent ones. This review addresses time-gating issues from the sensor standpoint and identifies single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) arrays as the most suitable single-photon detectors to be rapidly and precisely time-gated without bulky, complex, or expensive setups. At first, we discuss the requirements for ideal Raman SPAD arrays, particularly focusing on the design guidelines for optimized on-chip processing electronics. Then we present some existing SPAD-based architectures, featuring specific operation modes which can be usefully exploited for Raman spectroscopy. Finally, we highlight key aspects for future ultrafast Raman platforms and highly integrated sensors capable of undistorted identification of Raman peaks across many pixels.

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“…Owing to its prominent advantages of single-photon level sensitivity, picosecond timing resolution, low cost, and low power consumption, single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) detectors fabricated in the scaled CMOS technologies are increasingly employed in many fields [1]- [4], such as fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM), laser imaging detection and ranging (LIDAR), Raman spectroscopy, 3D imaging, and deep learning aided signal detection. In each SPAD detector, a quenching and recharging circuit that is directly connected with the SPAD is necessarily demanded to cut off avalanche current and to reset the device to the excess bias state as fast as possible once an avalanche ignition is sensed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Compact High-Speed Active Quenching and Recharging Circuit for SPAD Detectors

Jiang

2020

IEEE Photonics J.

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A compact high-speed active quenching and recharging circuit (AQRC) is proposed for single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) detectors fabricated in standard 0.18 μm CMOS technology. A novel sensing and quenching scheme is employed to speed up the process of avalanche detection, enabling a low afterpulsing probability and a high photon-counting rate. The simulation and experimental results indicate that the sensing and quenching time is reduced down to 0.7 ns and the maximum photon-counting rate is close to 200 Mcps (counts per second), meanwhile the afterpulsing probability as low as 0.75% is obtained. Due to the compact configuration, the area occupation of the AQRC is only 306 μm 2. Such outstanding advantages suggest that the proposed AQRC is very suitable for the miniaturized and high-speed SPAD-array detectors.

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Gated SPAD Arrays for Single-Photon Time-Resolved Imaging and Spectroscopy

Cited by 13 publications

References 17 publications

Single Photon Avalanche Diode Arrays for Quantum Imaging and Microscopy

Single Photon Avalanche Diode Arrays for Quantum Imaging and Microscopy

Single Photon Avalanche Diode Arrays for Time-Resolved Raman Spectroscopy

A Compact High-Speed Active Quenching and Recharging Circuit for SPAD Detectors

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