A CCO-Based Pixel-Level Readout Circuit for QWIP Focal Plane Array Imaging System

This paper presents a pixel-level readout circuit based on voltage detection and current-controlled oscillator (CCO), which aims at focal plane array (FPA) imaging system with quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP). It includes a non-uniformity calibration (NUC) module, a differential transconductance amplifier and two CCOs. At 45μm pixel pitch, the readout circuit is implemented in the form of a 64×64 array using 0.18μm CMOS technology. The simulation results show average power consumption of 150nW per pixel and 0.97mW for the whole chip with 2.0V supply voltage and 60Hz frame rate. The equivalent input noise (EIN) voltage of the entire pixel circuit is 1.09μV in concerned frequency band.