• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2004.08c
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• pp.482-485
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• 2004

We fabricated a hybrid bulk/fully depleted silicon on insulator (FDSOI) complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) active pixel image sensor. The active pixel is comprised of reset and source follower transistors on the SOI seed wafer, while the pinned photodiode and readout gate and floating diffusion are fabricated on the SOI handle wafer after the removal of the buried oxide. The source of dark current is eliminated by hybrid bulk/FDSOI pixel structure between localized oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) and photodiode(PD). By using the low noise hybrid pixel structure, dark currents qm be suppressed significantly. The pinned photodiode can also be optimized for quantum efficiency and reduce the noise of dark current. The spectral response of the pinned photodiode on the SOI handle wafer is very flat between 400 nm and 700 nm and the dark current that is higher than desired is about 10 nA/cm2 at a $V_{DD}$ of 2 V.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.35-41
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• 2017

We propose a novel multi-photodiode array (MPDA) based retinal implant IC with on/off stimulation strategy for a visual prosthesis with improved spatial resolution. An active pixel sensor combined with a comparator enables generation of biphasic current pulses when light intensity meets a threshold condition. The threshold is tuned by changing the discharging time of the active pixel sensor for various light intensity environments. A prototype of the 30-channel retinal implant IC was fabricated with a unit pixel area of $0.021mm^2$, and the stimulus level up to $354{\mu}A$ was measured with the threshold ranging from 400 lx to 13120 lx.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.79-82
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• 2015

This paper proposes a novel complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) active pixel sensor (APS) and presents its performance characteristics. The proposed APS exhibits a linear-logarithmic response, which is simulated using a standard $0.35-{\mu}m$ CMOS process. To maintain high sensitivity and improve the dynamic range (DR) of the proposed APS at low and high-intensity light, respectively, two additional nMOSFETs are integrated into the structure of the proposed APS, along with a photogate. The applied photogate voltage reduces the sensitivity of the proposed APS in the linear response regime. Thus, the conversion gain of the proposed APS changes from high to low owing to the addition of the capacitance of the photogate to that of the sensing node. Under high-intensity light, the integrated MOSFETs serve as voltage-light dependent active loads and are responsible for logarithmic compression. The DR of the proposed APS can be improved on the basis of the logarithmic response. Furthermore, the reference voltages enable the tuning of the sensitivity of the photodetector, as well as the DR of the APS.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.114-118
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• 2021

In this study, the sensitivity of an active pixel sensor (APS) was adjusted by employing a gate/body-tied (GBT) p-channel metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (PMOSFET)-type photodetector with a transfer gate. A GBT PMOSFET-type photodetector can amplify the photocurrent generated by light. Consequently, APSs that incorporate GBT PMOSFET-type photodetectors are more sensitive than those APSs that are based on p-n junctions. In this study, a transfer gate was added to the conventional GBT PMOSFET-type photodetector. Such a photodetector can adjust the sensitivity of the APS by controlling the amount of charge transmitted from the drain to the floating diffusion node according to the voltage of the transfer gate. The results obtained from conducted simulations and measurements corroborate that, the sensitivity of an APS, which incorporates a GBT PMOSFET-type photodetector with a built-in transfer gate, can be adjusted according to the voltage of the transfer gate. Furthermore, the chip was fabricated by employing the standard 0.35 ㎛ complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology, and the variable sensitivity of the APS was thereby experimentally verified.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.7-12
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• 2012

In this paper, we propose a 4-transistor active pixel sensor(APS) with a novel correlated double sampling(CDS) circuit for the purpose of extending dynamic range. Dual sampling techniques can overcome low-sensitivity and temporal disparity problems at low illumination. To accomplish this, two images are obtained at the same time using different sensitivities. The novel CDS circuit proposed in this paper contains MOS switches that make it possible for the capacitance of a conventional CDS circuit to function as a charge pump, so that the proposed APS exhibits an extended dynamic range as well as reduced noise. The designed circuit was fabricated by using $0.35{\mu}m$ 2-poly 4-metal standard CMOS technology and its characteristics have been evaluated.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.341-346
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• 2006

We have fabricated SOI CMOS active pixel image sensor with the pinned photodiode on handle wafer in order to reduce dark currents and improve spectral response. The structure of the active pixel image sensor is 4 transistors APS which consists of a reset and source follower transistor on seed wafer, and is comprised of the photodiode, transfer gate, and floating diffusion on handle wafer. The source of dark current caused by the interface traps located on the surface of a photodiode is able to be eliminated, as we apply the pinned photodiode. The source of dark currents between shallow trench isolation and the depletion region of a photodiode can be also eliminated by the planner process of the hybrid bulk/SOI structure. The photodiode could be optimized for better spectral response because the process of a photodiode on handle wafer is independent of that of transistors on seed wafer. The dark current was about 6 pA at 3.3 V of floating diffusion voltage in the case of transfer gate TX = 0 V and TX=3.3 V, respectively. The spectral response of the pinned photodiode was observed flat in the wavelength range from green to red.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.08a
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• pp.1082-1085
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• 2006

We proposed dual mode pixel circuit in AMOLED (active matrix organic light emitting device). After light emitting period of OLED, we used it as a photo sensor. We measured photo current of OLED and simulated the proposed pixel circuit to verify it's function of dual mode, that is lighting and sensing.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.1086-1087
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• 2009

A small temperature sensor is designed in a 0.35um CMOS process. Transistors operating in the intermediate inversion region are employed in the core of the sensor. This temperature sensor operates in $-50^{\circ}C{\sim}120^{\circ}C$ with ${\pm}2^{\circ}C$ of accuracy after two-point calibration. This temperature sensor can be placed in the active pixel area of a display panel to measure the temperature of the display panel for temperature compensation.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.1-10
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• 2020

The technology and market size of image sensors continue to develop thanks to the release of image sensors that exceed 100 million pixels in 2019 and expansion of black box camera markets for vehicles in addition to existing mobile applications. We review the technology flow of image sensors that have been constantly evolving for 40 years since Hitachi launched a 200,000-pixel image sensor in 1979. Although CCD has made inroads into image sensor market for a while based on good picture quality, CMOS image sensor (CIS) with active pixels has made inroads into the market as semiconductor technology continues to develop, since the electrons generated by the incident light are converted to the electric signals in the pixel, and the power consumption is low. CIS image sensors with superior characteristics such as high resolution, high sensitivity, low power consumption, low noise and vivid color continue to be released as the new technologies are incorporated. At present, new types of structures such as Backside Illumination and Isolation Cell have been adopted, with better sensitivity and high S/N ratio. In the future, new photoconductive materials are expected to be adopted as a light absorption part in place of the pn junction.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.475-484
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• 2009

In this paper, an analysis of the complementary CMOS active pixel and readout circuit is carried out. Complementary pixel structure which is different from conventional 3TR APS structure consists of photo diode, reset PMOS, several NMOSs and PMOSs sets for complementary signals. Proposed CMOS image sensors pixel has been fabricated using 0.5 standard CMOS process. Measured results show that the output signal range is from 0.8 V to 3.8 V. This output signal range increased 125 % compared to conventional 3TR pixel in the condition of 5 V power supply.