A CMOS Time-Resolved Fluorescence Lifetime Analysis Micro-System

• Main Authors: Martin D. Dawson, Robert K. Henderson, David Renshaw, Zheng Gong, Jonathan McKendry, John M. Girkin, Erdan Gu, Keith R. Muir, Bruce R. Rae
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2009-11-01
• Series: Sensors
• Subjects: CMOS; single-photon avalanche diodes; GaN; micro light-emitting diodes (micro-LEDs); fluorescence lifetime; micro-system
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/9/11/9255/
• ISSN: 1424-8220

We describe a CMOS-based micro-system for time-resolved fluorescence lifetime analysis. It comprises a 16 × 4 array of single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) fabricated in 0.35 μm high-voltage CMOS technology with in-pixel time-gated photon counting circuitry and a second device incorporating an 8 × 8 AlInGaN blue micro-pixellated light-emitting diode (micro-LED) array bump-bonded to an equivalent array of LED drivers realized in a standard low-voltage 0.35 μm CMOS technology, capable of producing excitation pulses with a width of 777 ps (FWHM). This system replaces instrumentation based on lasers, photomultiplier tubes, bulk optics and discrete electronics with a PC-based micro-system. Demonstrator lifetime measurements of colloidal quantum dot and Rhodamine samples are presented.