1,280×1,024 10µm-pitch read-out IC for infra-red imagers

RD0131 as it will be known has a capacitive transimpedance amplifier (CTIA) front-end.

There are three selectable gains, with well capacity of: 22k electrons (high-gain), 160ke- (medium) or 1.1Me- (low).

In high gain, room temperature zero-signal noise floor is 15e- (rms) using correlated doubling sampling (CDS) – CDS can be internal or external.

“For very low signal stable scenes with long integration time, the droic can perform multiple readouts without resetting the pixel array, sampling up the integration ramp and providing another method to improve signal-to-noise ratio,” according to the company.

For fast imaging, multiple sub-windows within the sensor matrix are available in a single integration time, and “small windows can be read out at many thousands of frames per second”, said Senseeker, which is “particularly beneficial in applications such as search and track, airborne or ground-based enhanced vision systems and automotive driver assist systems”.

Row over-sampling can be used to improve noise performance – each row can be over-sampled by a programmable number of samples, improving uncorrelated read noise by the square root of the over-sample.

Other features include: global snapshot, integrate-while-read operation and synchronous or asynchronous integration control.

The output is serial with 16 bit/pixel (15 data + 1 valid flag), control is via an SPI bus, and there is an optional frame clock.

Devices are available in a full wafer (part RD0131-L100-WSP) or in a quarter wafer (RD0131-L100-QSP).

Development hardware including thermoelectric cooling is available.

Applications are foreseen in machine vision, with the emergency service and in automotive emergency braking in reduced visibility.

Senseeker is a fabless semiconductor and cryogenic test company based in Santa Barbara, California.