Lecture

CCD Architectures: Overview and Functionality

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Description

This lecture provides an overview of different architectures of Charge-Coupled Devices (CCDs) used in imaging systems. It begins with the full-frame architecture, which utilizes the entire image area for capturing light, resulting in a high fill factor of nearly 100%. The instructor explains the process of image integration and the challenges of vertical smear during readout, necessitating the use of a mechanical shutter. Next, the frame-transfer architecture is discussed, highlighting its ability to operate at faster frame rates by using two surfaces: one for exposure and another for storage. This allows simultaneous exposure and readout, although it comes at a higher cost. Finally, the interline-transfer architecture is introduced, which features a photosensitive column next to a storage area, enabling quick image transfer and readout. However, this architecture has a lower fill factor due to the opaque strips covering part of the imaging area. The lecture concludes with a comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of each CCD architecture.

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Related concepts (23)

Image sensor

An image sensor or imager is a sensor that detects and conveys information used to form an . It does so by converting the variable attenuation of light waves (as they pass through or reflect off objects) into signals, small bursts of current that convey the information. The waves can be light or other electromagnetic radiation. Image sensors are used in electronic imaging devices of both analog and digital types, which include digital cameras, camera modules, camera phones, optical mouse devices, medical imaging equipment, night vision equipment such as thermal imaging devices, radar, sonar, and others.

Charge-coupled device

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Active-pixel sensor

An active-pixel sensor (APS) is an , which was invented by Peter J.W. Noble in 1968, where each pixel sensor unit cell has a photodetector (typically a pinned photodiode) and one or more active transistors. In a metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) active-pixel sensor, MOS field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) are used as amplifiers. There are different types of APS, including the early NMOS APS and the now much more common complementary MOS (CMOS) APS, also known as the CMOS sensor.

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Solid-state chemistry, also sometimes referred as materials chemistry, is the study of the synthesis, structure, and properties of solid phase materials. It therefore has a strong overlap with solid-state physics, mineralogy, crystallography, ceramics, metallurgy, thermodynamics, materials science and electronics with a focus on the synthesis of novel materials and their characterization. A diverse range of synthetic techniques, such as the ceramic method and chemical vapour depostion, make solid-state materials.

Back-illuminated sensor

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