A detailed experimental and theoretical investigation of noise in both current mode and voltage mode amorphous silicon
(a-Si) active pixel sensors (APS) has been performed. Both flicker (1/f) and thermal are considered in this study. The
experimental result in this paper emphasizes the computation of the output noise variance. The theoretical analysis shows
that the voltage mode APS has an advantage over the current mode APS in terms of the flicker noise due to the operation
of the readout process. The experimental data are compared to the theoretical analysis and are in good agreement.
KEYWORDS: Signal to noise ratio, Sensors, Imaging arrays, Active sensors, Californium, Prototyping, Computer simulations, Switches, Amplifiers, Medical imaging
We present an analysis of output referred pixel electronic noise as a function of position in the active matrix array for
both active and passive pixel architectures. Three different noise sources for Active Pixel Sensor (APS) arrays are
considered: readout period noise, reset period noise and leakage current noise of the reset TFT during readout. For the
state-of-the-art Passive Pixel Sensor (PPS) array, the readout noise of the TFT switch is considered. Measured noise
results are obtained by modeling the array connections with RC ladders on a small in-house fabricated prototype. The
results indicate that the pixels in the rows located in the middle part of the array have less random electronic noise at the
output of the off-panel charge amplifier compared to the ones in rows at the two edges of the array. These results can
help optimize for clearer images as well as help define the
region-of-interest with the best signal-to-noise ratio in an
active matrix digital flat panel imaging array.
A 2-TFT current-programmed, current-output active pixel sensor in amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) technology is introduced
for digital X-ray imaging, and in particular, for mammography tomosynthesis and fluoroscopy. Pixel structure, operation
and characteristics are presented. The proposed APS circuit was fabricated and assembled using an in-house bottom gate inverted staggered a-Si:H thin film transistor (TFT) process. Lifetime, transient performance as well as sensitivity to temperature measurements were carried out. An off-panel current amplifier with double sampling capability required for 1/f noise reduction is proposed and implemented in CMOS 0.18 micron technology. The results are promising and demonstrate that the proposed APS compensates for electrical and thermal stress causing shift in the threshold voltage of a-Si TFTs.
KEYWORDS: Computer programming, X-rays, Sensors, Amorphous silicon, Imaging systems, Capacitors, Capacitance, Active sensors, Transistors, Signal to noise ratio
A dual mode current-programmed, current-output active pixel sensor (DCAPS) in amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) technology
is introduced for digital X-ray imaging, and in particular, for hybrid fluoroscopic and radiographic imagers. Here, each
pixel includes an extra capacitor that selectively is coupled to the pixel capacitance to realize the dual mode behavior.
Pixel structure, operation and characteristics are presented. The proposed DCAPS circuit was fabricated and assembled
using an in-house bottom gate inverted staggered a-Si:H thin film transistor (TFT) process. Gain, lifetime, transient
performance as well as noise analysis were carried out. The results are promising and demonstrate that the DCAPS
enables dual mode X-ray imaging while compensating for the long term electrical and thermal stress related a-Si TFT
threshold voltage (Vt) shift.
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