Metodologia para caracterização e comparação de sensores de píxeis ativos integrados em tecnologia CMOS

Abstract

The active pixel circuits, manufactured using CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide- Semiconductor) technology, have been widely used due to factors such as low cost and high integration capability since it is possible integrating processing and memory circuitry on the same chip. The sensor type choice has to be suitable for the application from sensorcharacterization, using well-defined parameters. Moreover, as the search for improvements and advances in design and manufacturing processes are continuous, the same parameters may be used to compare different sensors. This study introduces a methodology for active pixels characterization, from experiments and simulations. Procedures were proposed or described to calculate fill factor and find other parameters as output swing, response saturation, dynamic range, consumption and bandwidth for the pixel characterization, and responsivity and quantumefficiency for photodiode characterization in integrated circuit. These tests allowed characterizing and comparing six APS (Active Pixel Sensor) topologies and a CTIA (Capacitive Transimpedance Amplifier). The comparative results validate the methodology. From the results in this work, it is evident the importance of comparative analysis to support project decisions related to the most suitable pixel in different applications.