A low-power low-noise 160×120 17µm pixel pitch TEC-less uncooled infrared image sensor

This paper presents a 160×120 size 17μm pixel pitch TEC-less uncooled infrared image sensor with low noise output and low power consumption. Aimed at power-saving TEC-less applications, offset skimming and gain stabilization techniques according to substrate temperature change are proposed and implemented. Each column is integrated with a low-power, low-noise backend readout stage including a CTIA and a 14-bit single-slope ADC. The chip has been realized in 0.35μm process and operates at 100Hz frame rate under 5V/3.3V power supply. Power consumption of the chip is below 50mW. Measurements demonstrate a 2.5LSB RMS temporal output noise, which means 27mK noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD) performance is supposed to be obtained at room temperature.