Linear angle sensitive pixels for 4D light field capture

In this paper we present the design of an image sensor pixel which produces a linear response proportional to the incident light angle. Unlike conventional pixels, the proposed pixel encodes incident angles in terms of linear intensity variations. A set of four pixels can distinguish between incident light angles along both the vertical and horizontal directions. This coarse linear angle information can be combined with the precise nonlinear Talbot effect based pixel response to deduce the exact incident angle. This technique greatly reduces the complexity of the Talbot effect based technique. Fabricated in a 65 nm Global Foundries mixed-signal CMOS process, the sensor can distinguish between angles in the range from -35°C to +35°C.