Advanced back-illuminated CMOS image sensors for adaptive optics applications

An existing 128x128 pixel CMOS image sensor design will be revised and fabricated in a thicker format more suitable for backthinning with the goal of increasing the quantum efficiency from 59% to > 80% at 589 nm. Increasing the epitaxial layer material from 5.2 microns to 14.2 microns is estimated to increase the absorption of 589 nm photons by 48%. A batch of 20 devices will be fully backthinned and hybridized according to established practices and using Phase I research findings. The devices will be anti-reflection coated in up to 5 lots, each lot with a different coating which has been optimized for different wavelength ranges and purposes. Each die will be mounted on a thermo-electric cooler in a hermetically-sealed package for cooled operation in a camera to minimize thermal noise. An existing camera design will be modified to accommodate the new sensor package. The camera will be optimized to provide maximal read rates and minimal latencies by skipping unwanted rows and overclocking the serial registers to skip unwanted columns.