A high-performance Si CMOS camera system for near infrared optical upconversion research

红外光学上转换成像器件在军事/民用夜视、隐蔽监视、测距、半导体晶片检测和环境监测等领域有着广泛的应用。如果没有一个全面的实验手段来表征器件的性能，这类器件的设计、制造、测试和优化的循环就不完整，阻碍了原型器件的发展到成熟阶段，从而实现成功的商业化。该奖项为购买用于研究和教育的高性能硅cmos相机(Dalsa 4M60)系统提供必要的支持。相机系统将是完整设备表征平台的关键组件，特别是用于从各种红外波长到波长小于1.0微米(硅CMOS相机的截止波长)或可见光的各种光学上转换测量的实验装置。该系统在获取二维图像时具有空间分辨率高、时间响应快、灵敏度高、噪声低等特点。相关的软件使其非常通用，并能够进行图像采集和后续图像处理。建议的摄像系统是申请人正在进行的有机/无机混合光学上转换器件研究项目中不可或缺的工具。它将为我们的研究提供必要的能力：1)演示有机/无机上转换器件的光学上转换成像操作；2)表征成像上转换器件的空间分辨率和噪声水平；3)演示用于商业目的的实时红外成像相机。它将极大地利用我们在开发高性能、大面积和低成本红外成像设备方面的研究努力，并帮助将原型设备开发成商业产品(例如：眼睛安全的人脸识别系统)。此外，拟议的人物塑造平台是一个很好的教学工具，将为我们的本科生和研究生提供更多的研究和教育机会。

Infrared optical upconversion imaging devices have applications in areas such as night vision for military/ civilian applications, covert surveillance, range finding, semiconductor wafer inspection and environmental monitoring. Without a comprehensive experimental means of characterizing device performance, the loop of design, fabrication, test and optimization of such devices is not complete, impeding development of prototype devices to a mature stage for successful commercialization. This award provides essential support for the acquisition of a high-performance Si CMOS camera (Dalsa 4M60) system for research and education. The camera system will be a key component of a complete device characterization platform, in particular, of an experimental setup for various optical upconversion measurements from various infrared wavelengths to a wavelength shorter than 1.0 micrometer (the cut-off wavelength of the Si CMOS camera) or to visible light. This proposed system provides high spatial resolution, fast temporal response, high sensitivity and low noise level in acquiring two dimensional images. The associated software makes it very versatile and enabling for image acquisition and aftermath image processing. The proposed camera system is an indispensable tool for the applicant's ongoing research project on organic/inorganic hybrid optical upconversion devices. It will provide essential capabilities to our research on: 1) demonstration of optical upconversion imaging operation of organic/inorganic upconversion devices; 2) characterization of the spatial resolution and noise level of the imaging upconversion devices; 3) demonstration of real-time infrared imaging camera for commercialization purposes. It will significantly leverage our research efforts in developing high-performance, large-area and low-cost infrared imaging devices and help the development of prototype devices to commercial products (for example: eye-safe human-face recognition system). In addition, the proposed characterization platform is a great teaching tool and will enrich the research and education opportunities to our undergraduate and graduate students.