This application claims priority from Great Britain Application No. 0717484.0 filed Sep. 7, 2007, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety
The present invention relates to a CCD device, and in particular to a CCD which provides gain within the charge domain.
In a typical CCD imager, signal charge representative of incident radiation is accumulated in an array of pixels in an image area. Following an integration period, signal charge is transferred to a store section and then to an output register by applying appropriate clocking or drive pulses to control electrodes. The signal charge is then read out from the output register and applied to a charge detection circuit to produce a voltage that is representative of the amount of signal charge. The sensitivity of such a device is limited by the noise of the charge to voltage conversion process and that introduced by the subsequent video chain electronics.
An electron multiplying CCD (EMCCD) overcomes this limitation and is disclosed in our earlier published UK patent application GB-A-2,371,403, as shown in
During operation of the device, incident radiation is converted at the image area 2 into signal charge which is representative of the intensity of the radiation impinging on the array of pixels making up the image array. Following the image acquisition period, drive pulses are applied to control electrodes 7 to transfer the charge accumulated at the pixels of the image area 2 to the store section 3. Simultaneously with this, drive signals are also applied to control electrodes 8 at the store section 3 to cause charge to be transferred from row to row as indicated by the arrow, the last row of charge held in elements in row 3 being transferred in parallel to the output register 4.
When a row of signal charge has been transferred into the output register 4, appropriate drive pulses are applied to the electrodes 9 to sequentially transfer the charge from the elements of the output register to those of the multiplication register 5. In this embodiment, the multiplication register is of similar architecture to the output register in so far as doping is concerned with the addition of an electrode for multiplication.
To achieve multiplication of charge in each of the elements of the multiplication register 5, sufficiently high amplitude drive pulses are applied to control electrodes 10 to both transfer signal charge from one element to the next adjacent element in the direction shown by the arrow and also to increase the level of signal charge due to impact ionisation by an amount determined by the amplitude of the drive pulses. Thus, as each packet of charge is transferred from one element to the next through the multiplication register, the signal charge increases. The charge detected at circuit 6 is thus a multiplied version of the signal charge collected in the output register 4. At each stage of the multiplication register, the signal charge is increased. Each signal charge packet stored in the output register 4 undergoes an identical multiplication process as each travels through all the elements of the multiplication register 5.
The output of the charge detection circuit 6 is also applied to an automatic gain control circuit 11 that adjusts the voltages applied to the multiplication register 5 to control the gain. In other embodiments, this feedback arrangement is omitted. Gain may then be controlled manually if desired.
Whilst the gain control circuit can vary the gain provided by varying the voltages applied to the multiplication register, we have appreciated the need to determine the actual level of gain provided by such a CCD charge multiplication arrangement. One way to measure the gain is to inject a known amount of signal into the multiplication register and monitor the output. The difficulty with this approach is knowing what the input signal is. Typically this signal will be below the noise floor of the video chain if multiplication gain is not applied. Therefore measuring the signal with and without gain is not a practical proposition.
The approach usually taken to measure the gain is to illuminate the device and to measure the output with no multiplication gain. The light level is then reduced by a known fraction (by reducing the aperture of the optics or using neutral density filters for example). The reduction of light level will be of the same order as the gain to be measured. Multiplication gain is then applied and the output signal is measured. The multiplication gain can be calculated knowing the output signal and the reduction in light level. This method can give accurate results but is cumbersome and not particularly suitable for automatic measurements within a camera system.
It has been proposed that the distribution of output signal can be used to calculate the multiplication gain. This method involves the analysis of the statistical variation of the output signal from very small input signals. The input signals derive from sources such as dark signal but signals derived from the scene being viewed are not used. The main disadvantage of this method is that light from the scene must be prevented from reaching the sensor during the measurement of gain. This would require an efficient shutter arrangement or the application of some other optical shielding. In many cases this is not practically possible or desirable.
We have appreciated that an improved method of determining the gain of an electron multiplying CCD would be desirable. We have further appreciated that a method that does not require illumination with known relative light levels, or shuttering of the CCD, would be simpler to implement and operate during normal use of a CCD.
The invention is defined in the claims to which reference is now directed.
The invention provides a method and a CCD device in which a plurality of multiplication elements provide charge multiplication. The method operates by measuring two or more samples of an output signal from the CCD from which the gain at given settings of the CCD is derived. Counter-intuitively, the method and device do not require any determination of the illumination level incident on the CCD, or determination of a charge input to the CCD.
An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying figures in which:
The present embodiment comprises a CCD device such as a CCD imager operated in a manner that allows derivation of the gain using output signals without requiring knowledge of the illumination level incident upon the CCD, or knowledge of an input signal level.
The invention is embodied in a method of operating a CCD device or operating an apparatus incorporating a CCD device, such as a camera. The invention is also embodied in an apparatus, such as a camera, configurable by hardware or software to operate the gain calibration method. The embodying method and apparatus derive the gain of an electron multiplying CCD by two or more measurements of an output signal and also measurements of parameters such as drive voltages or temperature, which may be referred to as operational parameters of the CCD device.
A known device is shown and has been described in relation to
As shown in
A multiplication element of known type is shown in
A schematic cross section of a single multiplication element is given in
As shown, charge is increased in each (multiplication) element by application of voltage at φ2 (HV) which causes electrons to form from the impact ionisation process. It is noted, for the avoidance of doubt, that the voltages shown are clocked and so vary in amplitude. The voltages are shown at a given instant.
The gain of each multiplication element is dependent on the potential applied between the high voltage electrode (φ2) and the preceding DC phase (φdc) as shown in
Any number of these elements can be employed in sequence so that when charge leaves one element it enters the next. Usually the fraction of signal added for each multiplication element is the same (ignoring statistical variations). In this case the total multiplication gain then applied to the signal is thus
G=(1+α)N
where α is the fraction of signal added per stage and N is the number of stages. Typically N will be between 400 and 600. For an N of 600 and an α of 1.2% the total gain is 1283.
Ideally the gain from the sensor could be estimated by knowing the characteristics of the sensor (such as shown in
The method of the present invention enables a convenient measurement of gain that can be easily implemented within an existing system. The measurement can take place whilst viewing a scene with light incident on the device.
We have appreciated that the total gain from the multiplication register can be described by the following relationship:
G≈(1+X(T)Y(V)Z(t))N (1)
where X(T) is a function of temperature, Y(V) is a function of applied potential (or electric field) and Z(t) is a function of time. A key feature of this appreciation is that the gain is described by functions of temperature (T) and voltage (V) that are independent of one another. For a range of device architectures it has been shown that
Y(V)∝exp(cV)
where V is the potential difference between the high level of the φ2 pulse and the φ DC phase and c is a constant, independent of time and approximately independent of temperature. The value of c will be fairly constant from device to device but may vary between device types when the structure of the multiplication element changes.
Equation 1 can be rewritten as
G≈(1+βexp(cV))N (2)
β is independent of V but dependent on temperature and time. For the usual range of gains (usually less than 5000×) and number of multiplication elements (usually greater than 400) equation 2 can be simplified to give
G≈exp(Nβexp(cV)) (3)
We have appreciated the existence of the relationship described in equation (3) and the understanding of its implications for the measurement of gain.
Consider the situation where the multiplication gain has to be measured for a given φ2 amplitude. The mean signal out of the device is S1 for a signal, Sin, prior to multiplication and the difference between high level of φ2 pulse and the φDC phase is V1. The mean output signal is given by
S1=G1Sin=Sin exp(Nβ exp(cV1)) (4)
Where G1 is the gain to be measured. Now let us change the difference between high level of φ2 pulse and the φDC phase to V2. The multiplication gain will change resulting in a change in output signal. V2 is chosen so that the output signal is still measurable above the noise of the output circuit. The new output signal, S2, is given by
S2=Sin exp(Nβ exp(cV2)) (5)
Combining (4) and (5) gives
Thus the multiplication gain can be calculated without needing to know the exact temperature of the device or how much it has aged. Usually V2 would be chosen so that S2 is roughly 10% of S1. Equation (6) becomes obvious if V2 is so low that close to unity gain is achieved. Thus V2 should be set so that the multiplication gain is greater than unity and S2 is above the noise floor of the video chain. The value of S1 or S2 may be obtained by averaging a number of frames, either on-chip or off chip.
A chart summarising the method for measuring gain embodying the invention is given in
The drive voltage applied is then changed to a second voltage V2, in a third step, and then in a fourth step the mean signal out of the CCD S2 is measured with the second voltage setting. As with the measurement of S1 the mean signal S2 is measured on the same basis, such as the average signal level from pixels of a whole frame. Again the CCD continues to image the same scene. Preferably, the sample mean output signals are taken in quick succession, such as from consecutive frames such that there will be very little variation in the mean signal level. This assumes that the scene being viewed does not change mean illumination level rapidly.
Lastly, in the final step, the gain is calculated using the values obtained for V1 V2 S1 and S2 and the value c which is a predetermined constant for the device.
Normally the value of c would be determined in the camera system just once. This would occur at the factory prior to the dispatch of the camera system to the end user. A detailed characterization of the multiplication gain could be undertaken to calculate c. A more practical proposition requiring less time is to measure the gain accurately using neutral density filters, for example, at a single value of V1. The output signal is noted. The difference between the high level of φ2 pulse and the φDC phase is changed to V2 and the new output signal is noted. As the gain at V1 is known, equation (6) can be solved by iteration to give c. This value of c defines the gain characteristic of that sensor in the camera system throughout the life of the sensor. It is approximately independent of temperature and, if used to calculate gain at temperatures other than where it was determined, a good measurement of gain will result. However, for the most accurate results, c should be determined either at the operating temperature, or over the range of expected operating temperatures. The value of c does not change with time.
To demonstrate the utility of the new method it has been used on an e2v technologies CCD97 device and compared with the results from a careful characterisation of the same device. The results are shown in
A system that incorporates the method would comprise the usual EMCCD drive and output circuits shown in
In some situations it may be preferable to keep the applied biases constant but instead record the output signal whilst varying the temperature, T. It has been shown that X(T) of equation (1) has the form
X(T)∝b−T
The constant b is independent of applied bias and time. Equation 1 can thus be rewritten as
G≈(1+σ(b−T))N (7)
where σ is independent of T but is a function of applied bias and time. For the usual range of gains (usually less than 5000×) and number of multiplication elements (usually greater than 400) equation 7 can be simplified to give
G≈exp(Nσ(b−T)) (8)
If the output signal is determined at two different temperatures, T1 and T2, the gain at T1 is
Where S1 is the output signal measured at T1 and S2 is the output signal measured at T2, keeping the biases constant. The only term that needs to be determined is the value of b, which can be determined for a particular device type and is independent of applied bias and time. Equation (9) can be used to calculate the gain at the operating temperature if the output signal at this temperature and the output signal at a different temperature are known.
Taking a different approach it can be shown that
Both of these derivatives are independent of the ageing term. Noting that the gain, G=output signal, Sout, divided by the input signal we have from equation (10)
and from equation (11)
If the temperature is constant and the rate of change of output signal with applied bias around the operating point is known, the gain can be calculated using (12) with a knowledge of the constant c. Likewise, if the applied bias is constant and the rate of change of output signal with temperature around the operating point is known, the gain can be calculated using (13) with a knowledge of the constant b.
A device embodying the invention is shown in schematic form in
The processor 40 is arranged to produce at least first and second signals with the two different settings of operational parameters. The first and second signals are derived from at least a plurality of pixels, more likely from multiple lines of pixels and preferably from whole frames of pixels. As shown by equations 12 and 13, the gain at a given setting of operational parameters may be derived from the rate of charge of the output signal with the operational parameter (Voltage or temperature). Accordingly, the output signal may be sampled at multiple settings of the operational parameters to derive the rate of charge of signal with operational parameter.
In the implementation in which the charge of signal with temperature is used, a particularly efficient method is to sample the output signal as the CCD device is cooled from ambient temperature to an operational temperature. Thus, part of the start sequence each time the device is used, is to accurately determine the gain at given voltage and temperature settings.
The processor may be implemented as a programmed DSP or could be a general purpose PC running appropriate software. The implementation as a DSP is particularly applicable to application in a camera in which the DSP could automatically determine the gain periodically during operation of the camera. The implementation as a PC is applicable to applications such as scientific applications. In such scientific applications, the alternative of varying the temperature may be particularly useful. The technique could be implemented by sampling the output signal as the CCD is cooled to its normal operating temperature so that a number of samples at different temperatures are taken. From these samples and measurements of the temperature the gain can be calculated. Similarly, if using variation of voltage, a range of different drive voltages could be scanned and an output sample taken at each from which the gain is determined.
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