Infrared and Laser Engineering, Volume. 46, Issue 1, 106007(2017)

High precision pixel readout circuit design for GM-APD array

Zhao Jiaheng1,*... Zhao Yiqiang1, Ye Mao1, Xia Xianzhao1 and Zhou Guoqing2 |Show fewer author(s)
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  • 1[in Chinese]
  • 2[in Chinese]
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    A pixel readout circuit was presented and designed for Geiger-mode avalanche photodiode (GM-APD) array applying to laser 3D imaging. Based on the principle of time-of-flight (TOF), the pixel readout circuit consisted of two main parts: active quenching circuit (AQC) and time-to-digital converter (TDC). The adopted TDC was a two-segment coarse-fine architecture to manage a trade-off between clock frequency and temporal resolution. Based on interpolation technique, the LFSR used for coarse counting and the delay-line type TDC used for fine counting achieved a wide dynamic range up to 18-bit together. Meanwhile the clock frequency used in those two parts were reduced to 250 MHz and 50 MHz, which are 1/20 and 1/10 of the conventional design frequency, respectively. Thus, the difficulties of design and applications were reduced significantly. The circuit was designed with SMIC 0.18 μm process. The post-simulation results reveal a high precise temporal resolution of 200 ps and a responding range resolution of 3 cm, satisfying the ranging requirements of 3 km laser 3D imaging. Furthermore, the pixel circuit layout area is less than 50×95 μm2, and the total power consumption is 0.89 mW, having the advantages of small area and low power consumption.

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    Zhao Jiaheng, Zhao Yiqiang, Ye Mao, Xia Xianzhao, Zhou Guoqing. High precision pixel readout circuit design for GM-APD array[J]. Infrared and Laser Engineering, 2017, 46(1): 106007

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    Paper Information

    Category: 激光技术及应用

    Received: May. 1, 2016

    Accepted: Jun. 12, 2016

    Published Online: Mar. 29, 2017

    The Author Email: Jiaheng Zhao (jiaheng@tju.edu.cn)

    DOI:10.3788/irla201746.0106007

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