SPAD Pixel With Sub-NS Dead-Time for High-Count Rate Applications

Severini, Fabio; Cusini, Iris; Berretta, Davide; Pasquinelli, Klaus; Incoronato, Alfonso; Villa, Federica

doi:10.1109/jstqe.2021.3124825

Cited by 23 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Afterpulsing probability can be measured by obtaining the histogram of the inter-arrival time (IAT) between the rising edges of consecutive output pulses. In this measurement, the transmitted light is kept constant without modulation, and is attenuated to maintain a low count rate of about 29 kcps, so that afterpulsing events can be detected effectively [24]. All the triggered pulses at the output of the receiver are recorded to find the IAT and construct the histogram, which is then utilized to estimate the afterpulsing probability based on exponential fitting.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fully-Integrated SPAD-Based Receiver With Nanosecond Dead Time for Optical Wireless Communication

Tang

et al. 2023

J. Lightwave Technol.

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This paper presents the design and characterization of a fully-integrated receiver based on single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) with nanosecond dead time for high-speed high-sensitivity optical wireless communication (OWC). The receiver consists of a 4x4 SPAD array that is based on a p-well/deep n-well (DNW) structure, and each SPAD is integrated with a tunable front-end circuit to perform quench and reset. In addition, an OR tree is designed to combine the 16 channels of output from the front-end circuits to generate a single data stream for signal processing, and an output buffer is implemented as the interface to drive 50-Ω loading for testing purpose. Fabricated in a standard 180 nm CMOS process, the receiver achieves a minimum dead time of about 2.5 ns. Bit error rate (BER) measurement of the implemented receiver indicates a sensitivity of -33.9 dBm at 100 Mb/s for a BER of 2x10 -3 and a wavelength of 520 nm, where on-off keying (OOK) modulation and a 2 15 -1 pseudorandom binary sequence (PRBS-15) are employed. To recover the transmitted data stream from the received signal, a signal processing flow specific for SPAD-based receivers is proposed and implemented.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fully-Integrated SPAD-Based Receiver With Nanosecond Dead Time for Optical Wireless Communication

Tang

et al. 2023

J. Lightwave Technol.

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“…Indeed, the exploitation of SPADs is limited in applications that require high detection rates such as quantum cryptography and computing, and single-photon imaging. However, many groups are currently working on optimizing also this performance, and deadtimes as low as 1 ns with negligible afterpulsing have been achieved [147].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical Perspectives, State of Art and Research Trends of SPAD Arrays and Their Applications (Part II: SPAD Arrays)

et al. 2022

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The ability to detect single photons is becoming an enabling key capability in an increasing number of fields. Indeed, its scope is not limited to applications that specifically rely on single photons, such as quantum imaging, but extends to applications where a low signal is overwhelmed by background light, such as laser ranging, or in which faint excitation light is required not to damage the sample or harm the patient. In the last decades, SPADs gained popularity with respect to other single-photon detectors thanks to their small size, possibility to be integrated in complementary metal-oxide semiconductor processes, room temperature operability, low power supply and, above all, the possibility to be fast gated (to time filter the incoming signal) and to precisely timestamp the detected photons. The development of large digital arrays that integrates the detectors and circuits has allowed the implementation of complex functionality on-chip, tailoring the detectors to suit the need of specific applications. This review proposes a complete overview of silicon SPADs characteristics and applications. In the previous Part I, starting with the working principle, simulation models and required frontend, the paper moves to the most common parameters adopted in literature for characterizing SPAD performance and describes single pixels applications and their performance. In this Part II, the focus is posed on the development of SPAD arrays, presenting some of the most notable examples found in literature. The actual exploitation of these designs in real applications (e.g., automotive, bioimaging and radiation detectors) is then discussed.

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“…High dynamic range and high-count rate are required in LiDAR for background rejection, in quantum communication for achieving high-transmission rates and fluorescence imaging to collect high photon number without pile-up issues. Reducing SPAD deadtime negatively affects the afterpulsing probability, nevertheless low afterpulsing probability below 0.14% and 0.93 ns deadtime are reported in [92], allowing to reach a detection rate exceeding 1 Gcps. A SPAD module designed to surpass the pileup limit in TCSPC is presented in [93] and its effectiveness is demonstrated in [94].…”

Section: Single Spad Pixelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical Perspectives, State of art and Research Trends of Single Photon Avalanche Diodes and Their Applications (Part 1: Single Pixels)

et al. 2022

Self Cite

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The ability to detect single photons is becoming an enabling key capability in an increasing number of fields. Indeed, its scope is not limited to applications that specifically rely on single photons, such as quantum imaging, but extends to applications where a low signal is overwhelmed by background light, such as laser ranging, or in which faint excitation light is required not to damage the sample or harm the patient. In the last decades, SPADs gained popularity with respect to other single-photon detectors thanks to their small size, possibility to be integrated in Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor processes, room temperature operability, low power supply and, above all, the possibility to be fast gated (to time filter the incoming signal) and to precisely timestamp the detected photons. The development of large digital arrays that integrates the detectors and circuits has allowed the implementation of complex functionality on-chip, tailoring the detectors to suit the need of specific applications. This review proposes a complete overview of silicon SPADs characteristics and applications. In this Part I, starting with the working principle, simulation models and required frontend, the paper moves to the most common parameters adopted in literature for characterizing SPADs, and describes single pixels applications and their performance. In the next Part II, the focus is then posed on the development of SPAD arrays, presenting some of the most notable examples found in literature. The actual exploitation of these designs in real applications (e.g., automotive, bioimaging and radiation detectors) is then discussed.

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SPAD Pixel With Sub-NS Dead-Time for High-Count Rate Applications

Cited by 23 publications

References 29 publications

Fully-Integrated SPAD-Based Receiver With Nanosecond Dead Time for Optical Wireless Communication

Fully-Integrated SPAD-Based Receiver With Nanosecond Dead Time for Optical Wireless Communication

Historical Perspectives, State of Art and Research Trends of SPAD Arrays and Their Applications (Part II: SPAD Arrays)

Historical Perspectives, State of art and Research Trends of Single Photon Avalanche Diodes and Their Applications (Part 1: Single Pixels)

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