Adaptive readout circuit for pinned and lateral drift-field photo diodes

In this work an adaptive pixel architecture is presented that is enabling a fast and complete transfer of photogenerated charges out of the photoactive area towards the storage node. This provides an improved dynamic range. Furthermore, the proposed circuit yields a high-speed shutter capability for global shutter mode. This is mandatory for sensors designed for high frames rate and for high-speed applications where smear effects are to be avoided. The concept is presented examplarily by simulations done for a 96x6 pixel image sensor, which was later on fabricated in a 0.35 µm technology.