Image sensors enabling fluorescence-lifetime guided surgery Vrije Universiteit Brussel
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The main objective of this thesis is to investigate important performance parameters of a monolithic CMOS image sensor that are more relevant for astronomical applications, such as non-linearity, saturation, conversion gain, dynamic range, noise, dark current, full well capacity and their temperature dependency, crosstalk, MTF and image persistence. We also aim to determine the importance of all these parameters for scientific imaging, ...
The project aims to investigate whether CMOS image sensors can be used for the detection of light and images in the wavelength range between 1050 nm and 1550 nm using two-photon absorption (“TPA”). Due to the strong advances in laser technology and the low read-out noise achievable with modern image sensors, this could potentially be an alternative to cooled detectors based on more exotic materials in practical applications.
CMOS image sensors have reached such low noise levels that photon counting becomes possible, even without avalanche photodiodes. Several groups have published papers and developed products that show histograms at low light levels with discrete peaks at one, two or three detected photo-electrons. These pixels employ regular 4-transistor active pixels but with a large in-pixel gain, mostly by scaling down the floating diffusion capacitance. ...
The goal of this project is to develop a generic platform consisting of both process technology modules as well as design techniques to enable a multitude of future silicon-based image sensor applications.
Because of the deep tissue penetration and the lower influence from the autofluorescence background, fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) in the near-infrared (NIR) range becomes attractive for bioimaging. However, to reconstruct the fluorescence decay profile with the time-resolved technique, repetitive short excitation pulses are required, and a large number of light exposures easily result in the photobleaching of the ...