An Active Quenching Circuit for a Native 3D SPAD Pixel in a 28 nm CMOS FDSOI Technology

The first Active Quenching - Active Reset (AQAR) circuit for a novel inherent 3D SPAD pixel is designed in a 28 nm CMOS Fully Depleted Silicon On Insulator (FDSOI) technology. Thanks to an ultra-fast detection circuit, the avalanche is detected in less than 50 ps and quenched in 200 ps. Thanks to this fast detection and active quenching, the avalanche charge in the Space Charge Region (SCR) is reduced by 50 % which should result in a 50 % afterpulsing reduction. With the proposed pixel, the fill factor is no longer limited by the associated circuitry.