SBIR Phase II: Advancing Beyond the Photodiode - Deep Sub-micron Pixels for Next-generation Image Sensors

这个小型企业创新研究第二阶段项目的重点是开发紧凑的相机模块，使用亚微米像素成像传感器阵列，具有更低的噪音和更高的对比度。该项目的商业潜力主要集中在开发用于内窥镜、导航和机器人手术系统等的紧凑型相机。将这些摄像头嵌入内窥镜系统，甚至手术工具本身，允许在广泛的医疗专业领域进行新的治疗，否则是不可能的。改用一些常见手术的微创形式可以节省大约140亿美元的医疗支出。肿瘤科、泌尿科、胃肠科、女性健康和儿科医学只是这些超紧凑型相机将显著受益的一些专业。更广泛的影响最终将来自于在高密度阵列中以独特的方式利用亚微米像素。传感器？的小尺寸和快速响应时间为空间和时间过采样提供了独特的机会。所得到的大量像素可以在紧凑的多孔径布置中被采用，以提供相对于传统半导体成像阵列、多光谱成像、3维图像重建、无运动自动聚焦或上述的某种组合的显著增强的颜色映射，从而在医学成像、国防、机器人和消费电子产品中提供独特的应用。 相机系统的小型化要求像素尺寸不断缩小。然而，在某一点上，像素可以容纳的最大光电子变得有限，从而产生低信噪比和差的动态范围。该项目开发了一种新型的光学传感器，其灵敏度可达数百纳米。随着这种传感器尺寸的减小，最大可测量光强度可以保持恒定，信噪比增加，从而显著改善图像质量。动态范围和颜色/特征再现。这一结果与传统像素的行为形成鲜明对比，传统像素的最大强度阈值随着像素尺寸的减小而减小，而噪声随着像素尺寸的减小而增加。将这些图像传感器减少到实践中需要从砷化镓基器件过渡到硅基器件。 工作重点是1）完成设计参数，制造和表征的电气性能和光学响应的系统和2）制造和表征的线性光电探测器阵列，用于创建线性图像和2-D图像从线性图像组装，以表征噪声，对比度和其他图像质量参数的原型。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project focuses on developing compact camera modules with lower noise and improved contrast using a submicron pixel imaging sensor array. The commercial potential of this project centers on developing compact cameras for endoscopes, navigational and robotic surgical systems and more. Embedding these cameras in endoscope systems, and even the surgical tools themselves, permits new treatments across a broad range of medical specialties that otherwise are not possible. Switching to the minimally invasive forms of some common surgeries could save an estimated $14 billion in healthcare spending. Oncology, urology, gastroenterology, women's health and pediatric medicine are just some of the specialties that will significantly benefit from these ultra-compact cameras. A broader impact will ultimately come from utilizing submicron pixels in unique ways in high density arrays. The sensor?s small size and fast response times offer unique opportunities for spatial and temporal oversampling. The resulting large numbers of pixels can be employed in a compact multi-aperture arrangement to deliver significantly enhanced color mapping over traditional semiconductor imaging arrays, multispectral imaging, 3-dimensional image reconstruction, motion free auto-focusing, or some combination of the above, providing unique applications in medical imaging, defense, robotics, and consumer electronics. The miniaturization of camera systems calls for the continuous shrinking of pixel sizes. At a certain point, however, the maximum photo-electrons a pixel can hold becomes limited, yielding low signal-to-noise ratios and poor dynamic range. This project develops a novel optical sensor that maintains sensitivity down to hundreds of nanometers. As the size of this sensor decreases, the maximum measurable light intensity can remain constant and the signal-to-noise increases, bringing significant improvements to images? dynamic range and color/feature rendition. This result stands in stark contrast to the behavior of conventional pixels where maximum intensity threshold scales down with pixel size and noise increases with decreasing pixel size. Reducing these image sensors to practice requires transitioning from gallium arsenide based devices to silicon. The work focuses on 1) finalizing design parameters, fabrication, and characterization of the electrical properties and optical response of the system and 2) fabrication and characterization of a linear photodetector array for the creation of both linear images and 2-D images assembled from linear images to characterize the noise, contrast and other image quality parameters of the prototype.