Noise characterization of CMOS image sensors

This paper presents noise characterization of a CMOS 0.6-µm image sensors system. The integrated readout circuit adaptability allows measuring the photocurrent magnitude of each pixel in charge integration mode or in transimpedance mode. In order to find the minimum detectable signal of this system and to identify the main dominant noise sources, an accurate noise analysis is performed under dark and illumination conditions. Noise measurement and simulation with Spectre present a good agreement with the values predicted by the proposed analytical equations.