Single-photon avalanche diode imagers in biophotonics: review and outlook

Abstract Single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) arrays are solid-state detectors that offer imaging capabilities at the level of individual photons, with unparalleled photon counting and time-resolved performance. This fascinating technology has progressed at a very fast pace in the past 15 years, since its inception in standard CMOS technology in 2003. A host of architectures have been investigated, ranging from simpler implementations, based solely on off-chip data processing, to progressively “smarter” sensors including on-chip, or even pixel level, time-stamping and processing capabilities. As the technology has matured, a range of biophotonics applications have been explored, including (endoscopic) FLIM, (multibeam multiphoton) FLIM-FRET, SPIM-FCS, super-resolution microscopy, time-resolved Raman spectroscopy, NIROT and PET. We will review some representative sensors and their corresponding applications, including the most relevant challenges faced by chip designers and end-users. Finally, we will provide an outlook on the future of this fascinating technology.

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Super Resolution Microscopy of Offline g-STED Nanoscopy Based on Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting

Chinese Journal of Lasers ◽

10.3788/cjl201340.0104001 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 40 (1) ◽

pp. 0104001 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

郝翔 Hao Xiang ◽

匡翠方 Kuang Cuifang ◽

顾兆泰 Gu Zhaotai ◽

李帅 Li Shuai ◽

刘旭 Liu Xu

Keyword(s):

Single Photon ◽

Photon Counting ◽

Super Resolution ◽

Single Photon Counting ◽

Super Resolution Microscopy

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Single Photon Avalanche Diode Arrays for Time-Resolved Raman Spectroscopy

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s21134287 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (13) ◽

pp. 4287

Author(s):

Francesca Madonini ◽

Federica Villa

Keyword(s):

Raman Spectroscopy ◽

Single Photon ◽

Laser Pulses ◽

Design Guidelines ◽

Time Resolved ◽

Avalanche Diode ◽

Chip Processing ◽

On Chip ◽

Scale Difference ◽

Key Aspects

The detection of peaks shifts in Raman spectroscopy enables a fingerprint reconstruction to discriminate among molecules with neither labelling nor sample preparation. Time-resolved Raman spectroscopy is an effective technique to reject the strong fluorescence background that profits from the time scale difference in the two responses: Raman photons are scattered almost instantaneously while fluorescence shows a nanoseconds time constant decay. The combination of short laser pulses with time-gated detectors enables the collection of only those photons synchronous with the pulse, thus rejecting fluorescent ones. This review addresses time-gating issues from the sensor standpoint and identifies single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) arrays as the most suitable single-photon detectors to be rapidly and precisely time-gated without bulky, complex, or expensive setups. At first, we discuss the requirements for ideal Raman SPAD arrays, particularly focusing on the design guidelines for optimized on-chip processing electronics. Then we present some existing SPAD-based architectures, featuring specific operation modes which can be usefully exploited for Raman spectroscopy. Finally, we highlight key aspects for future ultrafast Raman platforms and highly integrated sensors capable of undistorted identification of Raman peaks across many pixels.

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Single Point PICA Probing with an Avalanche Photo-Diode

ISTFA 2001: Conference Proceedings from the 27th International Symposium for Testing and Failure Analysis ◽

10.31399/asm.cp.istfa2001p0023 ◽

2001 ◽

Author(s):

Mike Bruce ◽

Rama R. Goruganthu ◽

Shawn McBride ◽

David Bethke ◽

J.M. Chin

Keyword(s):

Single Photon ◽

Single Point ◽

Photon Counting ◽

Ring Oscillator ◽

Time Resolved ◽

Single Photon Counting ◽

Photo Diode ◽

Avalanche Photo Diode ◽

Photo Multiplier Tube ◽

Channel Plate

Abstract For time resolved hot carrier emission from the backside, an alternate approach is demonstrated termed single point PICA. The single point approach records time resolved emission from an individual transistor using time-correlated-single-photon counting and an avalanche photo-diode. The avalanche photo-diode has a much higher quantum efficiency than micro-channel plate photo-multiplier tube based imaging cameras typically used in earlier approaches. The basic system is described and demonstrated from the backside on a ring oscillator circuit.

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Super-resolution time-resolved imaging using computational sensor fusion

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-81159-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

C. Callenberg ◽

A. Lyons ◽

D. den Brok ◽

A. Fatima ◽

A. Turpin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sensor Fusion ◽

Spatial Resolution ◽

Temporal Resolution ◽

Single Photon ◽

Super Resolution ◽

Numerical Data ◽

Data Cube ◽

Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging ◽

Time Resolved ◽

Temporal Precision

AbstractImaging across both the full transverse spatial and temporal dimensions of a scene with high precision in all three coordinates is key to applications ranging from LIDAR to fluorescence lifetime imaging. However, compromises that sacrifice, for example, spatial resolution at the expense of temporal resolution are often required, in particular when the full 3-dimensional data cube is required in short acquisition times. We introduce a sensor fusion approach that combines data having low-spatial resolution but high temporal precision gathered with a single-photon-avalanche-diode (SPAD) array with data that has high spatial but no temporal resolution, such as that acquired with a standard CMOS camera. Our method, based on blurring the image on the SPAD array and computational sensor fusion, reconstructs time-resolved images at significantly higher spatial resolution than the SPAD input, upsampling numerical data by a factor $$12 \times 12$$ 12 × 12 , and demonstrating up to $$4 \times 4$$ 4 × 4 upsampling of experimental data. We demonstrate the technique for both LIDAR applications and FLIM of fluorescent cancer cells. This technique paves the way to high spatial resolution SPAD imaging or, equivalently, FLIM imaging with conventional microscopes at frame rates accelerated by more than an order of magnitude.

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Design of a Real-Time Breakdown Voltage and On-Chip Temperature Monitoring System for Single Photon Avalanche Diodes

Electronics ◽

10.3390/electronics10010025 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 25

Author(s):

Shijie Deng ◽

Alan P. Morrison ◽

Yong Guo ◽

Chuanxin Teng ◽

Ming Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Real Time ◽

Breakdown Voltage ◽

Count Rate ◽

Single Photon ◽

Photon Counting ◽

Temperature Monitoring ◽

Dark Count ◽

Chip Temperature ◽

Avalanche Diodes ◽

On Chip

The design and implementation of a real-time breakdown voltage and on-chip temperature monitoring system for single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) is described in this work. In the system, an on-chip shaded (active area of the detector covered by a metal layer) SPAD is used to provide a dark count rate for the breakdown voltage and temperature calculation. A bias circuit was designed to provide a bias voltage scanning for the shaded SPAD. A microcontroller records the pulses from the anode of the shaded SPAD and calculates its real-time dark count rate. An algorithm was developed for the microcontroller to calculate the SPAD’s breakdown voltage and the on-chip temperature in real time. Experimental results show that the system is capable of measuring the SPAD’s breakdown voltage with a mismatch of less than 1.2%. Results also show that the system can provide real-time on-chip temperature monitoring for the range of −10 to 50 °C with errors of less than 1.7 °C. The system proposed can be used for the real-time SPAD’s breakdown voltage and temperature estimation for dual-SPADs or SPAD arrays chip where identical detectors are fabricated on the same chip and one or more dummy SPADs are shaded. With the breakdown voltage and the on-chip temperature monitoring, intelligent control logic can be developed to optimize the performance of the SPAD-based photon counting system by adjusting the parameters such as excess bias voltage and dead-time. This is particularly useful for SPAD photon counting systems used in complex working environments such as the applications in 3D LIDAR imaging for geodesy, geology, geomorphology, forestry, atmospheric physics and autonomous vehicles.

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