Microelectronics for single-photon Time-of-Flight measurements
In the last years, the accurate measurement of time intervals is required in many single-photon detection applications, based on time-of-flight (TOF) or Time-Correlated Single-Photon Counting (TCSPC) techniques, such as fluorescence lifetime microscopy, time-resolved spectroscopy, or 3D ranging. Arrays of CMOS Single-Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPADs) or Silicon Photo Multiplier (SiPM) are an attractive sensor choice for these applications, due to their high detection efficiency, relatively low voltage operation, high timing resolution and full compatibility with standard CMOS processing. This PhD research aims at developing of state-of-the-art time-interval measurement microelectronic integrated circuits with few picoseconds of resolution, low non-linearity and high conversion rate. Data processing algorithms will be implemented into reconfigurable FPGA devices, to allow calibration and tuning of the overall system and to customize the on-board processing for different applications. The module will be exploited in different applications in collaboration with world-leader research groups, exploring new application-specific improvements in order to achieve the best performance from time-interval measurement module. A first identified demonstrator is a novel Time-to-Digital Converter (TDC) chip with on-chip histogram generation for the “SOLUS” HORIZON-2020 project, aiming at innovative multi-modal imaging systems (with both diffuse optics and ultrasounds/shear wave elastography) for high-specificity diagnosis of breast cancer.
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