Title :
A low noise readout detector circuit for nano-ampere sensor applications
Author :
Thelen, Donald C., Jr. ; Chu, Dahlon D.
Author_Institution :
Microelectron. Res. Center, New Mexico Univ., Albuquerque, NM, USA
Abstract :
A readout detector integrated circuit (IC) has been developed which is capable of detecting nano-ampere photo-current signals of interest in a high (micro-ampere) background illumination or DC noise level (SNR=92 dB). The readout detector sensor IC processes transient signals of interest from a separate photodiode pixel array chip. Low noise signal conditioning, filtering, and signal thresholding implement smart sensor detection of only “active pixels”. This detector circuit can also be used to perform signal conditioning for other sensor applications that require detection of very small signals in a high background noise environment
Keywords :
CMOS analogue integrated circuits; analogue processing circuits; detector circuits; image sensors; integrated circuit noise; intelligent sensors; random noise; signal processing equipment; 92 dB; filtering; high background noise environment; low noise readout detector circuit; low noise signal conditioning; nanoampere sensor applications; photocurrent signals; photodiode pixel array chip; readout detector integrated circuit; readout detector sensor IC; signal thresholding; smart sensor detection; transient signals; Circuit noise; Detectors; Integrated circuit noise; Intelligent sensors; Lighting; Noise level; Photodiodes; Sensor arrays; Signal detection; Signal processing;
Conference_Titel :
Custom Integrated Circuits Conference, 1996., Proceedings of the IEEE 1996
Conference_Location :
San Diego, CA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-3117-6
DOI :
10.1109/CICC.1996.510561
