Tradeoffs in imager design parameters for sensor reliability

Glenn H. Chapman; Jenny Leung; Rahul Thomas; Zahava Koren; Israel Koren

doi:10.1117/12.876947

16 February 2011 Tradeoffs in imager design parameters for sensor reliability

Glenn H. Chapman, Jenny Leung, Rahul Thomas, Zahava Koren, Israel Koren

Proceedings Volume 7875, Sensors, Cameras, and Systems for Industrial, Scientific, and Consumer Applications XII; 78750I (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.876947
Event: IS&T/SPIE Electronic Imaging, 2011, San Francisco Airport, California, United States

Abstract

Image sensors are continuously subject to the development of in-field permanent defects in the form of hot pixels. Based on measurements of defect rates in 23 DSLRs, 4 point and shoot cameras, and 11 cell phone cameras, we show in this paper that the rate of these defects depends on the technology (APS or CCD) and on design parameters the like of imager area, pixel size, and gain (ISO). Increasing the image sensitivity (ISO) (from 400 up to 25,600 ISO range) causes the defects to be more noticeable, with some going into saturation, and at the same time increases the defect rate. Partially stuck hot pixels, which have an offset independent of exposure time, make up more than 40% of the defects and are particularly affected by ISO changes. Comparing different sensor sizes has shown that if the pixel size is nearly constant, the defect rate scales with sensor area. Plotting imager defect/year/sq mm with different pixel sizes (from 7.5 to 1.5 microns) and fitting the result shows that defect rates grow rapidly as pixel size shrinks, with an empirical power law of the pixel size to the -2.5. These defect rate trends result in interesting tradeoffs in imager design.

Citation Download Citation

Glenn H. Chapman, Jenny Leung, Rahul Thomas, Zahava Koren, and Israel Koren "Tradeoffs in imager design parameters for sensor reliability", Proc. SPIE 7875, Sensors, Cameras, and Systems for Industrial, Scientific, and Consumer Applications XII, 78750I (16 February 2011); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.876947

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available