A high-throughput time-resolved mini-silicon photomultiplier with embedded fluorescence lifetime estimation in 0.13 μm CMOS

David Tyndall*, Bruce R. Rae, David Day Uei Li, Jochen Arlt, Abigail Johnston, Justin A. Richardson, Robert K. Henderson

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

78 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We describe a miniaturized, high-throughput, time-resolved fluorescence lifetime sensor implemented in a 0.13 μm CMOS process, combining single photon detection, multiple channel timing and embedded pre-processing of fluorescence lifetime estimations on a single device. Detection is achieved using an array of single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) arranged in a digital silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) architecture with 400 ps output pulses and a 10% fill-factor. An array of time-to-digital converters (TDCs) with ≈50 ps resolution records up to 8 photon events during each excitation period. Data from the TDC array is then processed using a centre-of-mass method (CMM) pre-calculation to produce fluorescence lifetime estimations in real-time. The sensor is believed to be the first reported implementation of embedded fluorescence lifetime estimation. The system is demonstrated in a practical laboratory environment with measurements of a variety of fluorescent dyes with different single exponential lifetimes, successfully showing the sensor's ability to overcome the classic pile-up limitation of time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) by over an order of magnitude.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)562-570
Number of pages9
JournalIEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems
Volume6
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 26 Dec 2012

Keywords

  • biosensors
  • silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs)
  • single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs)
  • time domain fluorescence lifetime
  • time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC)

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