Design of a 24×24 SPAD imager for multi-photon coincidence-detection in super resolution microscopy

Francesca Madonini; Fabio Severini; Alfonso Incoronato; Enrico Conca; Federica Villa

doi:10.1117/12.2592088

18 April 2021 Design of a 24×24 SPAD imager for multi-photon coincidence-detection in super resolution microscopy

Francesca Madonini, Fabio Severini, Alfonso Incoronato, Enrico Conca, Federica Villa

Proceedings Volume 11771, Quantum Optics and Photon Counting 2021; 117710B (2021) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2592088
Event: SPIE Optics + Optoelectronics, 2021, Online Only

Abstract

Microscopy resolution below the diffraction limit can be achieved by exploiting quantum light properties. NitrogenVacancy (NV) color centers in diamond, dye molecules and quantum dots are examples of single-photon emitters, whose antibunching property allows super-resolution imaging through the measurement of high-order autocorrelation functions. In this work, we present a novel Single Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) array architecture optimized for n-fold photon coincidence counting, in each point across the whole sensitive area. It is implemented in a 160 nm Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS (BCD) technology, and it includes 24 × 24 SPAD pixels with 50-μm pixel pitch and 10-μm SPAD diameter. Multi-photon coincidences (within time windows ranging from 2 ns to 500 ns) are identified by post-processing of the in-pixel timing data. Given the expected low photon rate on the detector in quantum imaging applications, on-chip logic discards unwanted information to limit readout throughput and data storage. In fact, reading the whole array would take 3 µs, while skipping rows detecting no photon reduces the readout time to 240 ns in case of no photon detected over the entire array. Moreover, we implemented a multi-gate approach, which avoids halting the array during readout, thus enabling multiple data acquisitions. Thanks to these power-saving expedients and efficient readout, the architecture is scalable towards multiple modules, such as 48 × 48 or 96 × 96-pixel arrays. Finally, it features the possibility of being coupled with a micro-lens array to reach a 78% equivalent fill-factor.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Francesca Madonini, Fabio Severini, Alfonso Incoronato, Enrico Conca, and Federica Villa "Design of a 24×24 SPAD imager for multi-photon coincidence-detection in super resolution microscopy", Proc. SPIE 11771, Quantum Optics and Photon Counting 2021, 117710B (18 April 2021); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2592088

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