A novel optical Bi-Cell with integrated readout circuitry

In 3D imaging, a laser scanning system needs to be synchronised with the data acquisition electronics. Conventional optical Bi-Cells perform the task but require readout electronics which must be calibrated each time the laser beam intensity changes. In this paper we describe the design of a novel optical Bi-Cell sensor with integrated readout and synchronisation circuitry entirely fabricated in CMOS technology. The processing electronics has been designed to work over two decades of photogenerated current eliminating thus the requirement for calibration over the laser beam intensity changes. A fully differential architecture has been implemented to make the circuit less sensitive to temperature and power supply variations. Experimental results will also be presented