Ultra low-noise charge coupled device

Details Ultra low-noise charge coupled device Ultra low-noise charge coupled device

1992-05-11

1993-10-05

Hille, Rolf

Active solid-state devices (e.g., transistors, solid-state diode

Field effect device

Charge transfer device

257239, 377 60, H01L 2978, G11C 1928, H03K 2346

Patent

active

052508242

ABSTRACT:
Special purpose CCD designed for ultra low-noise imaging and spectroscopy applications that require subelectron read noise floors, wherein a non-destructive output circuit operating near its 1/f noise regime is clocked in a special manner to read a single pixel multiple times. Off-chip electronics average the multiple values, reducing the random noise by the square-root of the number of samples taken. Noise floors below 0.5 electrons rms are possible in this manner. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a three-phase CCD horizontal register is used to bring a pixel charge packet to an input gate adjacent a floating gate amplifier. The charge is then repeatedly clocked back and forth between the input gate and the floating gate. Each time the charge is injected into the potential well of the floating gate, it is sensed non-destructively. The floating gate amplifier is provided with a reference voltage of a fixed value and a pre-charge gate for resetting the amplifier between charge samples to a constant gain. After the charge is repeatedly sampled a selected number of times, it is transferred by means of output gates, back into the horizontal register, where it is clocked in a conventional manner to a diffusion MOSFET amplifier. It can then be either sampled (destructively) one more time or otherwise discarded.

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patent: 4726049 (1988-02-01), Boudewijns
patent: 4939560 (1990-08-01), Narabu et al.
patent: 4998265 (1991-03-01), Kimata
Baertsch et al., "A New Surface Charge Analog Store", IEEE IEDM, 1973, pp. 134-137.

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