Hybrid CMOS-Ferroelectric FET-Based Image Sensor With Tunable Dynamic Range

The ever-increasing need for high-quality and high-resolution images in security and surveillance systems, biomedical imaging systems, smart devices, space rovers, and UAV imaging systems necessitates the development of image sensors with large dynamic range (DR) and high spatial resolution. Although CMOS image sensors (CISs) are promising candidates for these applications owing to their low power consumption and cost-effectiveness, they exhibit a limited DR. To address this issue, in this work, for the first time, we propose a novel hybrid CMOS-Ferroelectric (Fe) FET-based image sensor with a tunable DR. The proposed pixel circuit leverages the nonlinear programmable capacitance of the FeFETs to regulate the image quality based on external lighting conditions. The pixel-level simulations utilizing a calibrated compact model for FeFETs in 180 nm technology indicate that the proposed hybrid CMOS-FeFET image sensor exhibits a significant improvement in the DR by 22.35 and 12 dB, respectively, when the FeFET is programed to the extreme polarization states under bright light illumination as compared to the conventional 4T-CMOS image sensor.