Integrated circuit comprising an array of single photon avalanche diodes
AssigneeEcole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
InventorsCristiano Niclass, Edoardo Charbon
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An integrated circuit (1) has an array of single photon avalanche diodes (SPADS), a plurality of read-out circuits, each SPADS being coupled to one read-out circuit, wherein at least some of the read-out circuits comprise time-to-digital converters (TDC) and/or a digital asynchronous counter. The plurality of SPADS are coupled to one single read-out circuit. The read-out circuit may have a transformer for decoupling the SPAD from other parts of the read-out circuit.
Claims19
An integrated circuit comprising:
- an array of single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs), each SPAD having an output for delivering an electrical pulse each time a photon is received;
- a plurality of read-out circuits for processing said pulses, each SPAD output being coupled to one of said read-out circuits, wherein a plurality of said SPAD outputs are coupled to one of said read-out circuits, and wherein said read-out circuits allow identification of the coupled SPAD that delivers said electrical pulse.
A monolithic integrated circuit comprising:
- an array of pixels, each pixel comprising a CMOS implemented single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs), an associated quenching device, a comparator for converting the output of the SPAD into a digital signal, and addressing transistors at the pixel level,
- a plurality of read-out circuits for determining the time of arrival of the pulses delivered by the SPADs and/or the number of pulses delivered by the SPADs,
- wherein several pixels are coupled to the same read-out circuit, and wherein said read-out circuits allow identification of the coupled pixel that delivers said pulse.
An imager comprising:
- an array of single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs),
- at least one time-to-digital converter (TDC), a plurality of SPADs being connected to a common TDC,
- wherein said TDC access the connected SPAD in a non sequential order depending on the order of arrival of the photons on the different SPADs wherein the SPAD that detects the photon is identified.
A method for capturing an image of a scene with an imager comprising an array of single photon avalanche diode (SPADs), wherein a digital signal is immediately transferred to a read-out circuit shared by several SPADs when a photon has been detected by any SPAD connected to said read-out circuit, wherein the SPAD that delivers said digital signal is identified.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.