A 3 × 3 SPAD-Based 198-dB Ultra-High Dynamic Range Dual-Mode Light Sensing Module With Auto-Mode-Switching and Auto-Gain-Control

作者：Zhihong Lin, Wenbo Dong, Yuan Li, Lei Zhao, Tao Xia, Patrick Yin Chiang · 发表于：IEEE Photonics Technology Letters · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1109/lpt.2023.3307905 · 被引用次数：6 · 研究领域：Advanced Optical Sensing Technologies、Ocular and Laser Science Research、CCD and CMOS Imaging Sensors

This letter presents an ultra-high dynamic range dual-mode light sensing module, based on dual$3\times 3$single-photon-avalanche-diode (SPAD) array switching between single-photon mode (SPAD-Mode) and linear mode (PD-Mode) automatically by a newly proposed hybrid auto-mode-switching (AMS) and auto-gain-control (AGC) algorithm. One SPAD array is working in SPAD-mode for low-light sensing. The readout circuit adopts an active quench circuit (AQC) to extend the saturation point of SPAD-Mode to get larger overlap region with PD-Mode for AMS. The other SPAD array is working in PD-mode for high-light sensing. The readout circuit integrates 7-Levels AGC to extend the dynamic range further. The SPAD array and SPAD-Mode readout circuit were fabricated in 180nmBCD process, while the process for PD-Mode readout circuit is 180nm. Experimental result shows that the proposed light sensing model can achieve 198dB dynamic range with AMS&AGC algorithm. The linearity error is 2.88% for SPAD-mode only. The measured max photon count rate of SPAD-Mode is 30.3MHz with AQC and dark count rate (DCR) is 80cps.