Title: A 1 × 64 Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor ranging sensor based on Current-Assisted Photonic Demodulators

Authors: Ward Van Der Tempel, Daniel Van Nieuwenhove, Riemer Grootjans, Maarten Kuijk

Addresses: Lab for Micro- and Photonelectronics (LAMI), Department of Electronics and Informatics (ETRO), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussel, Belgium. ' Lab for Micro- and Photonelectronics (LAMI), Department of Electronics and Informatics (ETRO), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussel, Belgium. ' Lab for Micro- and Photonelectronics (LAMI), Department of Electronics and Informatics (ETRO), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussel, Belgium. ' Lab for Micro- and Photonelectronics (LAMI), Department of Electronics and Informatics (ETRO), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussel, Belgium

Abstract: A new Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) active pixel-ranging sensor is presented, realised as a 1 × 64 array of 30 µm × 30 µm lock-in pixels. The sensor is based on the Current-Assisted Photonic Demodulator (CAPD), implemented in a Standard CMOS 0.35 µm technology. The ranging pixel achieves 75% Fill-Factor, 0.22 A W⁻¹ total QE and a demodulation bandwidth up to 70 MHz, both at 860 nm light. Range-finding is achieved through Modulated Wave Time-Of-Flight (TOF) measurements with a modulation frequency of 20 MHz. Distance measurements are presented. This sensor represents the first step towards integrating CAPD-based lock-in pixels in large TOF CMOS ranging systems.

Keywords: CMOS ranging sensors; photonic demodulators; TOF; time-of-flight; lock-in pixels.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISTA.2008.021286

International Journal of Intelligent Systems Technologies and Applications, 2008 Vol.5 No.3/4, pp.237 - 245

Published online: 18 Nov 2008 *

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