High-performance integrated pick-up circuit for SPAD arrays in time-correlated single photon counting

Giulia Acconcia; Alessandro Cominelli; Pietro Peronio; Ivan Rech; Massimo Ghioni

doi:10.1117/12.2265523

15 May 2017 High-performance integrated pick-up circuit for SPAD arrays in time-correlated single photon counting

Giulia Acconcia, Alessandro Cominelli, Pietro Peronio, Ivan Rech, Massimo Ghioni

Proceedings Volume 10229, Photon Counting Applications 2017; 102290A (2017) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2265523
Event: SPIE Optics + Optoelectronics, 2017, Prague, Czech Republic

Abstract

The analysis of optical signals by means of Single Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPADs) has been subject to a widespread interest in recent years. The development of multichannel high-performance Time Correlated Single Photon Counting (TCSPC) acquisition systems has undergone a fast trend. Concerning the detector performance, best in class results have been obtained resorting to custom technologies leading also to a strong dependence of the detector timing jitter from the threshold used to determine the onset of the photogenerated current flow. In this scenario, the avalanche current pick-up circuit plays a key role in determining the timing performance of the TCSPC acquisition system, especially with a large array of SPAD detectors because of electrical crosstalk issues. We developed a new current pick-up circuit based on a transimpedance amplifier structure able to extract the timing information from a 50-μm-diameter custom technology SPAD with a state-of-art timing jitter as low as 32ps and suitable to be exploited with SPAD arrays. In this paper we discuss the key features of this structure and we present a new version of the pick-up circuit that also provides quenching capabilities in order to minimize the number of interconnections required, an aspect that becomes more and more crucial in densely integrated systems.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Giulia Acconcia, Alessandro Cominelli, Pietro Peronio, Ivan Rech, and Massimo Ghioni "High-performance integrated pick-up circuit for SPAD arrays in time-correlated single photon counting", Proc. SPIE 10229, Photon Counting Applications 2017, 102290A (15 May 2017); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2265523

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