High fill-factor miniaturized SPAD arrays with a guard-ring-sharing technique

Kazuhiro Morimoto; Kazuhiro Morimoto; Edoardo Charbon

doi:10.1364/OE.389216

Optics Express
Vol. 28,
Issue 9,
pp. 13068-13080
(2020)
•https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.389216

High fill-factor miniaturized SPAD arrays with a guard-ring-sharing technique

Kazuhiro Morimoto and Edoardo Charbon

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Kazuhiro Morimoto and Edoardo Charbon, "High fill-factor miniaturized SPAD arrays with a guard-ring-sharing technique," Opt. Express 28, 13068-13080 (2020)

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Table of Contents Category
- Optical Devices and Detectors
Optics & Photonics Topics
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The topics in this list come from the Optics and Photonics Topics applied to this article.

About this Article
History
- Original Manuscript: February 7, 2020
- Revised Manuscript: March 25, 2020
- Manuscript Accepted: March 30, 2020
- Published: April 16, 2020

Abstract

We present a novel guard-ring-sharing technique to push the limit of SPAD pixel miniaturization, and to demonstrate the operation of SPAD arrays with a 2.2 µm-pitch, the smallest ever reported. Device simulation and preliminary tests suggest that the optimized device design ensures the electrical isolation of SPADs with guard-ring sharing. 4×4 SPAD arrays with two parallel selective readout circuits are designed in 180 nm CMOS technology. SPAD characteristics for the pixel pitch of 2.2, 3, and 4 µm are systematically measured as a function of an active diameter, active-to-active distance, and excess bias. For a 4 µm-pitch, the fill factor is 42.4%, the maximum PDP 33.5%, the median DCR 2.5 cps, the timing jitter 88 ps, and the crosstalk probability is 3.57%, while the afterpulsing probability is 0.21%. Finally, we verified the feasibility of the proposed technique towards compact multi-megapixel 3D-stacked SPAD arrays.

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References

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Year
Author
Publication

C. Niclass, M. Soga, H. Matsubara, S. Kato, and M. Kagami, “A 100-m Range 10-Frame/s 340×96-Pixel Time-of-Flight Depth Sensor in 0.18(m CMOS,” IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits 48(2), 559–572 (2013).
[Crossref]
D. Bronzi, Y. Zou, F. Villa, S. Tisa, A. Tosi, and F. Zappa, “Automotive Three-Dimensional Vision Through a Single-Photon Counting SPAD Camera,” IEEE Trans. Intell. Transport. Syst. 17(3), 782–795 (2016).
[Crossref]
A. R. Ximenes, P. Padmanabhan, M.-J. Lee, Y. Yamashita, D.-N. Yaung, and E. Charbon, “A Modular, Direct Time-of-Flight Depth Sensor in 45/65-nm 3-D-Stacked CMOS Technology,” IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits 54(11), 3203–3214 (2019).
[Crossref]
S. W. Hutchings, N. Johnston, I. Gyongy, T. Al Abbas, N. A. W. Dutton, M. Tyler, S. Chan, J. Leach, and R. K. Henderson, “A Reconﬁgurable 3-D-Stacked SPAD Imager With In-Pixel Histogramming for Flash LIDAR or High-Speed Time-of-Flight Imaging,” IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits 54(11), 2947–2956 (2019).
[Crossref]
M. Gersbach, Y. Maruyama, R. Trimananda, M. W. Fishburn, D. Stoppa, J. A. Richardson, R. Walker, R. Henderson, and E. Charbon, “A Time-Resolved, Low-Noise Single-Photon Image Sensor Fabricated in Deep-Submicron CMOS Technology,” IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits 47(6), 1394–1407 (2012).
[Crossref]
M. Perenzoni, N. Massari, D. Perenzoni, L. Gasparini, and D. Stoppa, “A 160×120 Pixel Analog-Counting Single-Photon Imager with Time-Gating and Self-Referenced Column-Parallel A/D Conversion for Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging,” IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits 51(1), 155–167 (2016).
[Crossref]
J. Kosman, O. Almer, T. Al Abbas, N. Dutton, R. Walker, S. Videv, K. Moore, H. Haas, and R. Henderson, “A 500Mb/s -46.1dBm CMOS SPAD Receiver for Laser Diode Visible-Light Communications,” IEEE Int. Solid-State Circuits Conference (2019).
G. Gariepy, N. Krstajić, R. Henderson, C. Li, R. R. Thomson, G. S. Buller, B. Heshmat, R. Raskar, J. Leach, and D. Faccio, “Single-photon sensitive light-in-fight imaging,” Nat. Commun. 6(1), 6021 (2015).
[Crossref]
M. O’Toole, D. B. Lindell, and G. Wetzstein, “Confocal non-line-of-sight imaging based on the light-cone transform,” Nature 555(7696), 338–341 (2018).
[Crossref]
K. Morimoto, A. Ardelean, M.-L. Wu, A. C. Ulku, I. M. Antolovic, C. Bruschini, and E. Charbon, “A megapixel time-gated SPAD image sensor for 2D and 3D imaging applications,” Optica 7(4), in press (https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.386574) (2020).
M.-W. Seo, S. Kawahito, K. Kagawa, and K. Yasutomi, “A 0.27e-rms Read Noise 220-µV/e- Conversion Gain Reset-Gate-Less CMOS Image Sensor With 0.11-µm CIS Process,” IEEE Electron Device Lett. 36(12), 1344–1347 (2015).
[Crossref]
J. Ma, S. Masoodian, D. A. Starkey, and E. R. Fossum, “Photon-number-resolving megapixel image sensor at room temperature without avalanche gain,” Optica 4(12), 1474–1481 (2017).
[Crossref]
Y. Hirose, S. Koyama, T. Okino, A. Inoue, S. Saito, Y. Nose, M. Ishii, S. Yamahira, S. Kasuga, M. Mori, T. Kabe, K. Nakanishi, M. Usuda, A. Odagawa, and T. Tanaka, “A 400×400-Pixel 6µm-Pitch Vertical Avalanche Photodiodes CMOS Image Sensor Based on 150ps-Fast Capacitive Relaxation Quenching in Geiger Mode for Synthesis of Arbitrary Gain Images,” IEEE Int. Solid-State Circuits Conference (2019).
T. Okino, S. Yamada, Y. Sakata, S. Kasuga, M. Takemoto, Y. Nose, H. Koshida, M. Tamaru, Y. Sugiura, S. Saito, S. Koyama, M. Mori, Y. Hirose, M. Sawada, A. Odagawa, and T. Tanaka, “A 1200×900 6µm 450fps Geiger-Mode Vertical Avalanche Photodiodes CMOS Image Sensor for a 250m Time-of-Flight Ranging System Using Direct-Indirect-Mixed Frame Synthesis with Configurable-Depth-Resolution Down to 10 cm,” IEEE Int. Solid-State Circuits Conference (2020).
Z. You, L. Parmesan, S. Pellegrini, and R. K. Henderson, “3µm Pitch, 1µm Active Diameter SPAD Arrays in 130 nm CMOS Imaging Technology,” Int. Image Sensor Workshop (2017).
T. Al Abbas, N. Dutton, O. Almer, F. M. D. Rocca, S. Pellegrini, B. R. Rae, D Golanski, and R. K. Henderson, “8.25µm Pitch 66% Fill Factor Global Shared Well SPAD Image Sensor in 40 nm CMOS FSI Technology,” Int. Image Sensor Workshop (2017).
J. M. Pavia, M. Wolf, and E. Charbon, “Measurement and modeling of microlenses fabricated on single-photon avalanche diode arrays for fill factor recovery,” Opt. Express 22(4), 4202–4213 (2014).
[Crossref]
G. Intermite, A. McCarthy, R. E. Warburton, X. Ren, F. Villa, R. Lussana, A. J. Waddie, M. R. Taghizadeh, A. Tosi, F. Zappa, and G. S. Buller, “Fill-factor improvement of Si CMOS single-photon avalanche diode detector arrays by integration of diffractive microlens arrays,” Opt. Express 23(26), 33777–33791 (2015).
[Crossref]
I. Gyongy, A. Davies, B. Gallinet, N. A. W. Dutton, R. R. Duncan, C. Rickman, R. K. Henderson, and P. A. Dalgarno, “Cylindrical microlensing for enhanced collection efficiency of small pixel SPAD arrays in single-molecule localisation microscopy,” Opt. Express 26(3), 2280–2291 (2018).
[Crossref]
J. M. Pavia, M. Scandini, S. Lindner, M. Wolf, and E. Charbon, “A 1 × 400 Backside-Illuminated SPAD Sensor With 49.7 ps Resolution, 30 pJ/Sample TDCs Fabricated in 3D CMOS Technology for Near-Infrared Optical Tomography,” IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits 50(10), 2406–2418 (2015).
[Crossref]
T. Al Abbas, N. A. W. Dutton, O. Almer, S. Pellegrini, Y. Henrion, and R. K. Henderson, “Backside illuminated SPAD image sensor with 7.83µm pitch in 3D-stacked CMOS technology,” IEEE Int. Electron Devices Meeting, 811–814 (2016).
S. Burri, C. Bruschini, and E. Charbon, “LinoSPAD: A Compact Linear SPAD Camera System with 64 FPGA-Based TDC Modules for Versatile 50 ps Resolution Time-Resolved Imaging,” Instruments 1(1), 6 (2017).
[Crossref]
I. M. Antolovic, C. Bruschini, and E. Charbon, “Dynamic range extension for photon counting arrays,” Opt. Express 26(17), 22234–22248 (2018).
[Crossref]
C. Veerappan and E. Charbon, “A Low Dark Count p-i-n Diode Based SPAD in CMOS Technology,” IEEE Trans. Electron Devices 63(1), 65–71 (2016).
[Crossref]
H. Finkelstein, M. J. Hsu, and S. C. Esener, “STI-Bounded Single-Photon Avalanche Diode in a Deep-Submicrometer CMOS Technology,” IEEE Electron Device Lett. 27(11), 887–889 (2006).
[Crossref]
S. Lindner, S. Pellegrini, Y. Henrion, B. Rae, M. Wolf, and E. Charbon, “A High-PDE, Backside-Illuminated SPAD in 65/40-nm 3D IC CMOS Pixel With Cascoded Passive Quenching and Active Recharge,” IEEE Electron Device Lett. 38(11), 1547–1550 (2017).
[Crossref]
F. Acerbi, G. Paternoster, A. Gola, N. Zorzi, and C. Piemonte, ““Silicon photomultipliers and single-photon avalanche diodes with enhanced NIR detection efficiency at FBK,” Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., Sect. A 912, 309–314 (2018).
[Crossref]
I. Rech, A. Ingargiola, R. Spinelli, I. Labanca, S. Marangoni, M. Ghioni, and S. Cova, “Optical crosstalk in single photon avalanche diode arrays: a new complete model,” Opt. Express 16(12), 8381–8394 (2008).
[Crossref]
S. Jahromi and J. Kostamovaara, “Timing and probability of crosstalk in a dense CMOS SPAD array in pulsed TOF applications,” Opt. Express 26(16), 20622–20632 (2018).
[Crossref]
L. Gasparini, B. Bessire, M. Unternährer, A. Stefanov, D. Boiko, M. Perenzoni, and D. Stoppa, “SUPERTWIN: towards 100kpixel CMOS quantum image sensors for quantum optics applications,” Proc. SPIE 10111, 101112L (2017).
[Crossref]
C. Niclass, A. Rochas, P.-A. Besse, and E. Charbon, “Design and Characterization of a CMOS 3-D Image Sensor Based on Single Photon Avalanche Diodes,” IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits 40(9), 1847–1854 (2005).
[Crossref]
J. A. Richardson, E. A. G. Webster, L. A. Grant, and R. K. Henderson, “Scaleable Single-Photon Avalanche Diode Structures in Nanometer CMOS Technology,” IEEE Trans. Electron Devices 58(7), 2028–2035 (2011).
[Crossref]
C. Niclass, H. Matsubara, M. Soga, M. Ohta, M. Ogawa, and T. Yamashita, “A NIR-Sensitivity-Enhanced Single-Photon Avalanche Diode in 0.18 µm CMOS,” Int. Image Sensor Workshop (2015).
N. A. W. Dutton, T. Al Abbas, I. Gyongy, F. M. D. Rocca, and R. K. Henderson, “High Dynamic Range Imaging at the Quantum Limit with Single Photon Avalanche Diode-Based Image Sensors,” Sensors 18(4), 1166 (2018).
[Crossref]
E. R. Fossum, J. Ma, S. Masoodian, L. Anzagira, and R. Zizza, “The Quanta Image Sensor: Every Photon Counts,” Sensors 16(8), 1260 (2016).
[Crossref]
R. K. Henderson, E. A. G. Webster, R. Walker, J. A. Richardson, and L. A. Grant, “A 3×3, 5 µm pitch, 3-transistor single photon avalanche diode array with integrated 11 V bias generation in 90 nm CMOS technology,” IEEE Int. Electron Devices Meeting, 336–339 (2010).

2019 (2)

A. R. Ximenes, P. Padmanabhan, M.-J. Lee, Y. Yamashita, D.-N. Yaung, and E. Charbon, “A Modular, Direct Time-of-Flight Depth Sensor in 45/65-nm 3-D-Stacked CMOS Technology,” IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits 54(11), 3203–3214 (2019).
[Crossref]

S. W. Hutchings, N. Johnston, I. Gyongy, T. Al Abbas, N. A. W. Dutton, M. Tyler, S. Chan, J. Leach, and R. K. Henderson, “A Reconﬁgurable 3-D-Stacked SPAD Imager With In-Pixel Histogramming for Flash LIDAR or High-Speed Time-of-Flight Imaging,” IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits 54(11), 2947–2956 (2019).
[Crossref]

2018 (6)

M. O’Toole, D. B. Lindell, and G. Wetzstein, “Confocal non-line-of-sight imaging based on the light-cone transform,” Nature 555(7696), 338–341 (2018).
[Crossref]

I. Gyongy, A. Davies, B. Gallinet, N. A. W. Dutton, R. R. Duncan, C. Rickman, R. K. Henderson, and P. A. Dalgarno, “Cylindrical microlensing for enhanced collection efficiency of small pixel SPAD arrays in single-molecule localisation microscopy,” Opt. Express 26(3), 2280–2291 (2018).
[Crossref]

I. M. Antolovic, C. Bruschini, and E. Charbon, “Dynamic range extension for photon counting arrays,” Opt. Express 26(17), 22234–22248 (2018).
[Crossref]

F. Acerbi, G. Paternoster, A. Gola, N. Zorzi, and C. Piemonte, ““Silicon photomultipliers and single-photon avalanche diodes with enhanced NIR detection efficiency at FBK,” Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., Sect. A 912, 309–314 (2018).
[Crossref]

S. Jahromi and J. Kostamovaara, “Timing and probability of crosstalk in a dense CMOS SPAD array in pulsed TOF applications,” Opt. Express 26(16), 20622–20632 (2018).
[Crossref]

N. A. W. Dutton, T. Al Abbas, I. Gyongy, F. M. D. Rocca, and R. K. Henderson, “High Dynamic Range Imaging at the Quantum Limit with Single Photon Avalanche Diode-Based Image Sensors,” Sensors 18(4), 1166 (2018).
[Crossref]

2017 (4)

S. Lindner, S. Pellegrini, Y. Henrion, B. Rae, M. Wolf, and E. Charbon, “A High-PDE, Backside-Illuminated SPAD in 65/40-nm 3D IC CMOS Pixel With Cascoded Passive Quenching and Active Recharge,” IEEE Electron Device Lett. 38(11), 1547–1550 (2017).
[Crossref]

L. Gasparini, B. Bessire, M. Unternährer, A. Stefanov, D. Boiko, M. Perenzoni, and D. Stoppa, “SUPERTWIN: towards 100kpixel CMOS quantum image sensors for quantum optics applications,” Proc. SPIE 10111, 101112L (2017).
[Crossref]

S. Burri, C. Bruschini, and E. Charbon, “LinoSPAD: A Compact Linear SPAD Camera System with 64 FPGA-Based TDC Modules for Versatile 50 ps Resolution Time-Resolved Imaging,” Instruments 1(1), 6 (2017).
[Crossref]

J. Ma, S. Masoodian, D. A. Starkey, and E. R. Fossum, “Photon-number-resolving megapixel image sensor at room temperature without avalanche gain,” Optica 4(12), 1474–1481 (2017).
[Crossref]

2016 (4)

C. Veerappan and E. Charbon, “A Low Dark Count p-i-n Diode Based SPAD in CMOS Technology,” IEEE Trans. Electron Devices 63(1), 65–71 (2016).
[Crossref]

M. Perenzoni, N. Massari, D. Perenzoni, L. Gasparini, and D. Stoppa, “A 160×120 Pixel Analog-Counting Single-Photon Imager with Time-Gating and Self-Referenced Column-Parallel A/D Conversion for Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging,” IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits 51(1), 155–167 (2016).
[Crossref]

D. Bronzi, Y. Zou, F. Villa, S. Tisa, A. Tosi, and F. Zappa, “Automotive Three-Dimensional Vision Through a Single-Photon Counting SPAD Camera,” IEEE Trans. Intell. Transport. Syst. 17(3), 782–795 (2016).
[Crossref]

E. R. Fossum, J. Ma, S. Masoodian, L. Anzagira, and R. Zizza, “The Quanta Image Sensor: Every Photon Counts,” Sensors 16(8), 1260 (2016).
[Crossref]

2015 (4)

G. Gariepy, N. Krstajić, R. Henderson, C. Li, R. R. Thomson, G. S. Buller, B. Heshmat, R. Raskar, J. Leach, and D. Faccio, “Single-photon sensitive light-in-fight imaging,” Nat. Commun. 6(1), 6021 (2015).
[Crossref]

M.-W. Seo, S. Kawahito, K. Kagawa, and K. Yasutomi, “A 0.27e-rms Read Noise 220-µV/e- Conversion Gain Reset-Gate-Less CMOS Image Sensor With 0.11-µm CIS Process,” IEEE Electron Device Lett. 36(12), 1344–1347 (2015).
[Crossref]

G. Intermite, A. McCarthy, R. E. Warburton, X. Ren, F. Villa, R. Lussana, A. J. Waddie, M. R. Taghizadeh, A. Tosi, F. Zappa, and G. S. Buller, “Fill-factor improvement of Si CMOS single-photon avalanche diode detector arrays by integration of diffractive microlens arrays,” Opt. Express 23(26), 33777–33791 (2015).
[Crossref]

J. M. Pavia, M. Scandini, S. Lindner, M. Wolf, and E. Charbon, “A 1 × 400 Backside-Illuminated SPAD Sensor With 49.7 ps Resolution, 30 pJ/Sample TDCs Fabricated in 3D CMOS Technology for Near-Infrared Optical Tomography,” IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits 50(10), 2406–2418 (2015).
[Crossref]

2014 (1)

J. M. Pavia, M. Wolf, and E. Charbon, “Measurement and modeling of microlenses fabricated on single-photon avalanche diode arrays for fill factor recovery,” Opt. Express 22(4), 4202–4213 (2014).
[Crossref]

2013 (1)

C. Niclass, M. Soga, H. Matsubara, S. Kato, and M. Kagami, “A 100-m Range 10-Frame/s 340×96-Pixel Time-of-Flight Depth Sensor in 0.18(m CMOS,” IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits 48(2), 559–572 (2013).
[Crossref]

2012 (1)

M. Gersbach, Y. Maruyama, R. Trimananda, M. W. Fishburn, D. Stoppa, J. A. Richardson, R. Walker, R. Henderson, and E. Charbon, “A Time-Resolved, Low-Noise Single-Photon Image Sensor Fabricated in Deep-Submicron CMOS Technology,” IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits 47(6), 1394–1407 (2012).
[Crossref]

2011 (1)

J. A. Richardson, E. A. G. Webster, L. A. Grant, and R. K. Henderson, “Scaleable Single-Photon Avalanche Diode Structures in Nanometer CMOS Technology,” IEEE Trans. Electron Devices 58(7), 2028–2035 (2011).
[Crossref]

2008 (1)

I. Rech, A. Ingargiola, R. Spinelli, I. Labanca, S. Marangoni, M. Ghioni, and S. Cova, “Optical crosstalk in single photon avalanche diode arrays: a new complete model,” Opt. Express 16(12), 8381–8394 (2008).
[Crossref]

2006 (1)

H. Finkelstein, M. J. Hsu, and S. C. Esener, “STI-Bounded Single-Photon Avalanche Diode in a Deep-Submicrometer CMOS Technology,” IEEE Electron Device Lett. 27(11), 887–889 (2006).
[Crossref]

2005 (1)

C. Niclass, A. Rochas, P.-A. Besse, and E. Charbon, “Design and Characterization of a CMOS 3-D Image Sensor Based on Single Photon Avalanche Diodes,” IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits 40(9), 1847–1854 (2005).
[Crossref]

Acerbi, F.

Al Abbas, T.

T. Al Abbas, N. A. W. Dutton, O. Almer, S. Pellegrini, Y. Henrion, and R. K. Henderson, “Backside illuminated SPAD image sensor with 7.83µm pitch in 3D-stacked CMOS technology,” IEEE Int. Electron Devices Meeting, 811–814 (2016).

J. Kosman, O. Almer, T. Al Abbas, N. Dutton, R. Walker, S. Videv, K. Moore, H. Haas, and R. Henderson, “A 500Mb/s -46.1dBm CMOS SPAD Receiver for Laser Diode Visible-Light Communications,” IEEE Int. Solid-State Circuits Conference (2019).

T. Al Abbas, N. Dutton, O. Almer, F. M. D. Rocca, S. Pellegrini, B. R. Rae, D Golanski, and R. K. Henderson, “8.25µm Pitch 66% Fill Factor Global Shared Well SPAD Image Sensor in 40 nm CMOS FSI Technology,” Int. Image Sensor Workshop (2017).

Almer, O.

Antolovic, I. M.

I. M. Antolovic, C. Bruschini, and E. Charbon, “Dynamic range extension for photon counting arrays,” Opt. Express 26(17), 22234–22248 (2018).
[Crossref]

K. Morimoto, A. Ardelean, M.-L. Wu, A. C. Ulku, I. M. Antolovic, C. Bruschini, and E. Charbon, “A megapixel time-gated SPAD image sensor for 2D and 3D imaging applications,” Optica 7(4), in press (https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.386574) (2020).

Anzagira, L.

E. R. Fossum, J. Ma, S. Masoodian, L. Anzagira, and R. Zizza, “The Quanta Image Sensor: Every Photon Counts,” Sensors 16(8), 1260 (2016).
[Crossref]

Ardelean, A.

Besse, P.-A.

Bessire, B.

Boiko, D.

Bronzi, D.

Bruschini, C.

I. M. Antolovic, C. Bruschini, and E. Charbon, “Dynamic range extension for photon counting arrays,” Opt. Express 26(17), 22234–22248 (2018).
[Crossref]

Buller, G. S.

Burri, S.

Chan, S.

Charbon, E.

I. M. Antolovic, C. Bruschini, and E. Charbon, “Dynamic range extension for photon counting arrays,” Opt. Express 26(17), 22234–22248 (2018).
[Crossref]

C. Veerappan and E. Charbon, “A Low Dark Count p-i-n Diode Based SPAD in CMOS Technology,” IEEE Trans. Electron Devices 63(1), 65–71 (2016).
[Crossref]

Cova, S.

Dalgarno, P. A.

Davies, A.

Duncan, R. R.

Dutton, N.

Dutton, N. A. W.

Esener, S. C.

H. Finkelstein, M. J. Hsu, and S. C. Esener, “STI-Bounded Single-Photon Avalanche Diode in a Deep-Submicrometer CMOS Technology,” IEEE Electron Device Lett. 27(11), 887–889 (2006).
[Crossref]

Faccio, D.

Finkelstein, H.

H. Finkelstein, M. J. Hsu, and S. C. Esener, “STI-Bounded Single-Photon Avalanche Diode in a Deep-Submicrometer CMOS Technology,” IEEE Electron Device Lett. 27(11), 887–889 (2006).
[Crossref]

Fishburn, M. W.

Fossum, E. R.

J. Ma, S. Masoodian, D. A. Starkey, and E. R. Fossum, “Photon-number-resolving megapixel image sensor at room temperature without avalanche gain,” Optica 4(12), 1474–1481 (2017).
[Crossref]

E. R. Fossum, J. Ma, S. Masoodian, L. Anzagira, and R. Zizza, “The Quanta Image Sensor: Every Photon Counts,” Sensors 16(8), 1260 (2016).
[Crossref]

Gallinet, B.

Gariepy, G.

Gasparini, L.

Gersbach, M.

Ghioni, M.

Gola, A.

Golanski, D

Grant, L. A.

R. K. Henderson, E. A. G. Webster, R. Walker, J. A. Richardson, and L. A. Grant, “A 3×3, 5 µm pitch, 3-transistor single photon avalanche diode array with integrated 11 V bias generation in 90 nm CMOS technology,” IEEE Int. Electron Devices Meeting, 336–339 (2010).

Gyongy, I.

Haas, H.

Henderson, R.

Henderson, R. K.

Z. You, L. Parmesan, S. Pellegrini, and R. K. Henderson, “3µm Pitch, 1µm Active Diameter SPAD Arrays in 130 nm CMOS Imaging Technology,” Int. Image Sensor Workshop (2017).

Henrion, Y.

Heshmat, B.

Hirose, Y.

Y. Hirose, S. Koyama, T. Okino, A. Inoue, S. Saito, Y. Nose, M. Ishii, S. Yamahira, S. Kasuga, M. Mori, T. Kabe, K. Nakanishi, M. Usuda, A. Odagawa, and T. Tanaka, “A 400×400-Pixel 6µm-Pitch Vertical Avalanche Photodiodes CMOS Image Sensor Based on 150ps-Fast Capacitive Relaxation Quenching in Geiger Mode for Synthesis of Arbitrary Gain Images,” IEEE Int. Solid-State Circuits Conference (2019).

T. Okino, S. Yamada, Y. Sakata, S. Kasuga, M. Takemoto, Y. Nose, H. Koshida, M. Tamaru, Y. Sugiura, S. Saito, S. Koyama, M. Mori, Y. Hirose, M. Sawada, A. Odagawa, and T. Tanaka, “A 1200×900 6µm 450fps Geiger-Mode Vertical Avalanche Photodiodes CMOS Image Sensor for a 250m Time-of-Flight Ranging System Using Direct-Indirect-Mixed Frame Synthesis with Configurable-Depth-Resolution Down to 10 cm,” IEEE Int. Solid-State Circuits Conference (2020).

Hsu, M. J.

H. Finkelstein, M. J. Hsu, and S. C. Esener, “STI-Bounded Single-Photon Avalanche Diode in a Deep-Submicrometer CMOS Technology,” IEEE Electron Device Lett. 27(11), 887–889 (2006).
[Crossref]

Hutchings, S. W.

Ingargiola, A.

Inoue, A.

Intermite, G.

Ishii, M.

Jahromi, S.

S. Jahromi and J. Kostamovaara, “Timing and probability of crosstalk in a dense CMOS SPAD array in pulsed TOF applications,” Opt. Express 26(16), 20622–20632 (2018).
[Crossref]

Johnston, N.

Kabe, T.

Kagami, M.

Kagawa, K.

Kasuga, S.

Kato, S.

Kawahito, S.

Koshida, H.

Kosman, J.

Kostamovaara, J.

S. Jahromi and J. Kostamovaara, “Timing and probability of crosstalk in a dense CMOS SPAD array in pulsed TOF applications,” Opt. Express 26(16), 20622–20632 (2018).
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Proc. SPIE (1)

Sensors (2)

E. R. Fossum, J. Ma, S. Masoodian, L. Anzagira, and R. Zizza, “The Quanta Image Sensor: Every Photon Counts,” Sensors 16(8), 1260 (2016).
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Other (9)

C. Niclass, H. Matsubara, M. Soga, M. Ohta, M. Ogawa, and T. Yamashita, “A NIR-Sensitivity-Enhanced Single-Photon Avalanche Diode in 0.18 µm CMOS,” Int. Image Sensor Workshop (2015).

Z. You, L. Parmesan, S. Pellegrini, and R. K. Henderson, “3µm Pitch, 1µm Active Diameter SPAD Arrays in 130 nm CMOS Imaging Technology,” Int. Image Sensor Workshop (2017).

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Fig. 1. Comparison of well-sharing (top) and guard-ring-sharing techniques (bottom). (a) Cross-sectional views of p-i-n SPADs. (b) Simulated electric field distributions. (c) Simulated electrostatic potential. (d) 1D potential profile on the white dashed line in (c) for cathode voltage V_C = 3 to 30 V with 3 V-step.

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Fig. 2. Results of preliminary test with 3-terminal two-SPAD device. (a) I-V characteristics for anode 1 with V_A2 fixed at 0 V and V_C at 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 V. Inset shows a schematic cross-section of the test device. (b) Punch-through voltage V_PT as a function of V_C, where V_PT is defined as V_A1 giving I_A1 = 100 pA. Dashed line is the linear fit.

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Fig. 3. Architecture of eight 4×4 SPAD arrays. (a) Circuit diagram of 4×4 SPAD arrays with two parallel selective readout circuits. (b) Chip micrograph with the size of 1.8 mm×1.8 mm.

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Fig. 4. Fill factor design and PDP measurement results for guard-ring-shared SPADs. (a) Fill factor of designed SPADs with different active diameters and pixel pitches. (b) Measured PDP for SPAD with D_a = 3 µm and L_a-a = 1 µm as a function of wavelength. (c) Maximum PDP as a function of L_a-a. (d) Maximum PDP as a function of excess bias and D_a.

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Fig. 5. DCR characteristics for guard-ring-shared SPADs. (a) Measured room temperature median DCR for SPAD with D_a = 3 µm as a function of L_a-a. (b) Median DCR as a function of excess bias and D_a with L_a-a = 1 µm.

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Fig. 6. Comparison of crosstalk between well sharing and guard-ring sharing. (a) Cross-sectional views of well-shared SPADs (top) and guard-ring-shared SPADs (bottom) with identical D_a and L_a-a. (b) Inter-avalanche time histogram for two adjacent pixels with D_a = 3 µm and L_a-a = 1 µm. Red curve is the exponential fit. (c) Crosstalk map in a 4×4 array with D_a = 3 µm and L_a-a = 3.4 µm. (d) Crosstalk probability as a function of excess bias with D_a = 3 µm and L_a-a = 3.4 µm.

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Fig. 7. Measured crosstalk for guard-ring-shared SPADs. (a) Crosstalk probability for SPAD with D_a = 3 µm as a function of L_a-a. (b) Crosstalk probability as a function of excess bias and D_a with L_a-a = 1 µm.

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Fig. 8. Correlated noise analysis for guard-ring-shared SPAD with D_a = 3 µm and L_a-a = 1 µm. (a) Inter-avalanche histogram for extraction of afterpulsing probability. Red curve is the exponential fit. (b) Timing jitter histogram. Red curve is the Gaussian fit.

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Tables (1)

Table 1. State-of-the-art comparison of performance and specifications in miniaturized SPAD arrays.

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Equations (1)

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F F = \frac{π {D_{a}}^{2}}{4 {L_{p}}^{2}} = \frac{π {D_{a}}^{2}}{4 {(D_{a} + L_{a - a})}^{2}} .

	[21]	[36]	[15]	This work
Process technology	65/40 nm	90 nm CMOS	130 nm CIS	180 nm CMOS
Process technology	3D-BSI CMOS	90 nm CMOS	130 nm CIS	180 nm CMOS
Pixel pitch (µm)	7.83	5	3	2.2	3	4
Active diameter (µm)	-	2	1	1.2	2	3
Drawn fill factor (%)	45	12.5	14 ^b	19.5 ^a	32.3 ^a	42.4 ^a
Sensor resolution	128×120	3×3	4×4	4×4	4×4	4×4
Breakdown voltage (V)	12	10.3	15.8	32.35	23.6	22.1
Max. PDP (%)	27.5	36	15	10.3	17.3	33.5
Max. PDP (%)	(V_ex=3 V)	(V_ex=0.6 V)	(V_ex=3.2 V)	(V_ex=4 V)	(V_ex=6 V)	(V_ex=6 V)
Max. PDE (%)	12.4	4.5	2.1	2.0	5.6	14.2
Max. PDE (%)	(V_ex=3 V)	(V_ex=0.6 V)	(V_ex=3.2 V)	(V_ex=4 V)	(V_ex=6 V)	(V_ex=6 V)
Median DCR (cps)	11,000	250	150	751	1.6	2.5
Median DCR (cps)	(V_ex=3 V)	(V_ex=0.6 V)	(V_ex=1 V)	(V_ex=4 V)	(V_ex=6 V)	(V_ex=6 V)
Crosstalk (%)	-	<0.1	0.13-0.22	2.97	2.75	3.57
Crosstalk (%)	-	(V_ex=0.6 V)	(V_ex=1 V)	(V_ex=4 V)	(V_ex=6 V)	(V_ex=6 V)
Afterpulsing probability (%)	-	-	0.18	<0.20	0.20	0.21
Afterpulsing probability (%)	-	-	(V_ex=1 V)	(V_ex=4 V)	(V_ex=6 V)	(V_ex=6 V)
Timing jitter (ps)	136	107	107	72	70	88
Timing jitter (ps)	(V_ex=3 V)	(V_ex=0.6 V)	(V_ex=3 V)	(V_ex=4 V)	(V_ex=6 V)	(V_ex=6 V)