CMOS APS Scientific Imaging Camera

The problem to be addressed in this work is the development of a high resolution CMOS active pixel sensor (APS) digital camera for scientific imaging. The camera has to be high resolution both in terms of the number of pixels and the bit resolution of its analog-to-digital converter. The CMOS APS is a recently developed high performance CMOS image sensor technology compatible with the on-chip integration of CMOS circuits for signal processing and analog-to-digital conversion. This gives the CMOS APS unprecedented potential to combine high performance imaging with advanced signal processing circuits such as high resolution analog-to-digital converters (ADC). The availability of on-chip ADC with resolutions up to 16 bits will provide tremendous advantages to camera system designers by eliminating costly and difficult external 16 bit ADC circuits. This simplifies system design, reduces board space requirements and lower overall system power consumption. In Phase I, a monochrome digital APS camera will be developed. This camera will be based around a digital APS imager with 512x512-pixel resolution and on-chip 12-bit analog-to-digital converter. This camera will be capable of operating at 10Hz or better for the full array. In Phase III, marketable prototype camera will be developed with 1024x1024 resolution, 16-bit digital resolution, and 10 Hz or better frame rate.