A Low-Noise CMOS Imaging Pixel Circuit with In-Pixel Voltage Amplification

A pixel circuit for CMOS active sensor imaging applications is presented. An in-pixel open-loop voltage amplifier achieves efficient bandwidth limitation using low capacitance values, and it allows excellent reduction of downstream readout circuit noise, thus achieving low noise readout. The non-linear characteristics of the amplifier results in output signal compression avoiding loss of signal swing due to clipping. A pixel conversion gain of 300μV/e-, readout noise below 1.2e- at room temperature and a dynamic range of 89dB are expected