A 250 m Direct Time-of-Flight Ranging System Based on a Synthesis of Sub-Ranging Images and a Vertical Avalanche Photo-Diodes (VAPD) CMOS Image Sensor

• Main Authors: Yutaka Hirose, Shinzo Koyama, Motonori Ishii, Shigeru Saitou, Masato Takemoto, Yugo Nose, Akito Inoue, Yusuke Sakata, Yuki Sugiura, Tatsuya Kabe, Manabu Usuda, Shigetaka Kasuga, Mitsuyoshi Mori, Akihiro Odagawa, Tsuyoshi Tanaka
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-10-01
• Series: Sensors
• Subjects: avalanche photodiode; vertical avalanche photodiode; time-of-flight; CMOS image sensor; photon counting; ranging
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/18/11/3642

We have developed a direct time-of-flight (TOF) 250 m ranging Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor (CIS) based on a 688 × 384 pixels array of vertical avalanche photodiodes (VAPD). Each pixel of the CIS comprises VAPD with a standard four transistor pixel circuit equipped with an analogue capacitor to accumulate or count avalanche pulses. High power near infrared (NIR) short (<50 ns) and repetitive (6 kHz) laser pulses are illuminated through a diffusing optics. By globally gating the VAPD, each pulse is counted in the in-pixel counter enabling extraction of sub-photon level signal. Depth map imaging with a 10 cm lateral resolution is realized from 1 m to 250 m range by synthesizing subranges images of photon counts. Advantages and limitation of an in-pixel circuit are described. The developed CIS is expected to supersede insufficient resolution of the conventional light detection and ranging (LiDAR) systems and the short range of indirect CIS TOF.