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SUMMARY:Are CMOS image sensors (and CCDs) dinosaurs? - Dr Renato Turchetta
 \, STFC-RAL Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
DTSTART:20140207T140000Z
DTEND:20140207T150000Z
UID:TALK50331@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Eileen Nugent
DESCRIPTION:When CMOS Image Sensors appeared around the mid ‘90s\, they 
 promised many advantages with respect to the then dominant solid-state ima
 ging device\, the charge-couple device (CCD). The CCD\, invented in 1969\,
  was threatened to be sent into a slow but inexorable retirement. CMOS ima
 ge sensors have clear advantages in terms of speed\, ease of use\, functio
 nality integration\, radiation hardness\, power consumption and more. CMOS
  being the technology underpinning the microelectronics revolution\, which
  has brought into our daily life high performance computers and complex mo
 bile devices\, just to mention some\, it became possible to have a whole c
 amera on a single piece of silicon. Supported by a world-wide industry eff
 ort to improve the technology\, CMOS sensors have now overtaken CCDs as th
 e main imaging devices. Almost every digital camera has today a CMOS senso
 r at its heart\, even for professional devices. Scientific CMOS is now als
 o there\, with noise performance comparable to CCDs.\nCMOS Image Sensor ar
 e going strong\, but about 20 years from their invention\, is it time for 
 a new imaging revolution?\nAt the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory\, the lar
 gest UK national laboratory\, managed by the Science and technology Facili
 ties Council (STFC)\, we have been developing CMOS image sensors almost si
 nce the ‘90s. Initially driven by the requirements of the laboratory sci
 entific applications\, like space science and particle physics\, this acti
 vity has then spun off into multiple areas\, both in science and in indust
 ry. To enable this\, we have been expanding the reach of these technologie
 s\, moving it beyond the realm of visible light into different wavelength\
 , like UV or X-rays\, as well as charged particles. We invented and design
 ed the first direct electron detection CMOS image sensor\, which changed t
 he imaging technology for transmission electron microscopy. We made sensor
 s covering a very large area or with a very high dynamic range. Backside i
 llumination for high sensitivity UV and low energy X-rays is being develop
 ed. And last but not least\, we develop a new technology that enables imag
 ing at millions of frames per second and that could make CMOS and CCD\, in
 dividually taken\, look like dinosaurs.\n
LOCATION:Small Lecture Theatre\, Cavendish Laboratory
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