Self-Monitoring Temperature Distribution of Single-Photon Avalanche Diode Array

We propose and verify on-chip temperature-sensing using single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) in complementary metal-oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) process. The dark count rate of SPAD is sensitive to device temperature and of use for temperature monitoring. The best measured noise-equivalent temperature difference is less than
$0.17~^{\circ }$
C over the range of 10 °C–60 °C. A
$32\times 32$
SPAD array with an on-chip heat source has been deployed to demonstrate its capability of 2-D temperature mapping. The good consistence between the measured temperature distributions and the simulated ones has been observed.