• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.256-261
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• 2013

This paper presents an extension of the dynamic range in a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) active pixel sensor (APS) using a stacked photodiode and feedback structure. The proposed APS is composed of two additional MOSFETs and stacked P+/N-well/P-sub photodiodes as compared with a conventional APS. Using the proposed technique, the sensor can improve the spectral response and dynamic range. The spectral response is improved using an additional stacked P+/N-well photodiode, and the dynamic range is increased using the feedback structure. Although the size of the pixel is slightly larger than that of a conventional three-transistor APS, control of the dynamic range is much easier than that of the conventional methods using the feedback structure. The simulation and measurement results for the proposed APS demonstrate a wide dynamic range feature. The maximum dynamic range of the proposed sensor is greater than 103 dB. The designed circuit is fabricated by the $0.35-{\mu}m$ 2-poly 4-metal standard CMOS process, and its characteristics are evaluated.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.200-206
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• 2023

Near-infrared (NIR) sensing technology using CMOS image sensors is used in many applications, including automobiles, biological inspection, surveillance, and mobile devices. An intuitive way to improve NIR sensitivity is to thicken the light absorption layer (silicon). However, thickened silicon lacks NIR sensitivity and has other disadvantages, such as diminished optical performance (e.g. crosstalk) and difficulty in processing. In this paper, a pixel structure for NIR sensing using a stacked CMOS image sensor is introduced. There are two photodetection layers, a conventional layer and a bottom photodiode, in the stacked CMOS image sensor. The bottom photodiode is used as the NIR absorption layer. Therefore, the suggested pixel structure does not change the thickness of the conventional photodiode. To verify the suggested pixel structure, sensitivity was simulated using an optical simulator. As a result, the sensitivity was improved by a maximum of 130% and 160% at wavelengths of 850 nm and 940 nm, respectively, with a pixel size of 1.2 ㎛. Therefore, the proposed pixel structure is useful for NIR sensing without thickening the silicon.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.61-64
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• 2004

We have explored the fabrication of an InP/InGaAs single heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) and a wave guide p-i-n photodiode (PD) on two kinds of double stacked layers for the implementation of an optoelectronic millimeter-wave monolithic integrated circuit (OEMMIC). We applied a photosensitive polyimide for passivation and integration to overcome the large difference between the HBT and PD layers of around $3{\mu}m$. Our experiment showed that the RF characteristics of the HBT were dependent on the location of the PD layer, while the dc performances of the HBTs and PDs were independent of the type of stacked layer used. The $F_t$ and $F_{max}$ of the HBTs on the HBT/PD stacked layer were 10% lower than those of the HBTs on the PD/HBT stacked layer.