A PWM based readout circuit for optical sensors with adaptive frequency control

Diffraction-based Integrated Optical Readout for Micromachined Optomechanical Sensors

Resonance Frequency Readout Circuit for a 900 MHz SAW Device

A monolithic resonance frequency readout circuit with high resolution and short measurement time is presented for a 900 MHz RF surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor. The readout circuit is composed of a fractional-N phase-locked loop (PLL) as the stimulus source to the SAW device and a phase-based resonance frequency detecting circuit using successive approximation (SAR). A new resonance frequency...

A compact readout platform for spectral-optical sensors

The continuous monitoring of industrial and environmental processes is becoming an increasingly important aspect with both economic and societal impact. So far, spectral-optical sensors with their outstanding properties in terms of sensitivity and reliability have not been considered as a potential solution because of the cost-intensive and bulky readout hardware. Here we present a card-size, i...

Low-power readout circuit for quanta image sensors

Introduction: The ‘quanta image sensor (QIS)’ is being explored as a possible next-generation solid-state imaging technology to address issues with ‘sub-diffraction-limit (SDL)’ pixel sizes in the ‘CMOS image sensor (CIS)’ [1–3]. In the QIS concept, individual photoelectrons are counted by specialised SDL pixels termed ‘jots’, and the output of each jot is binary in nature. In addition to spati...

Arrays of MEMS Intertial Sensors with Optical Readout

Microelectromechanical system (MEMS)-based inertial sensors have many advantages over traditional discrete-component-based inertial sensor designs. This is due to their smaller size, batch fabrication, lower cost and higher robustness. Although MEMS-based inertial sensors can withstand high-g accelerations, they are prone to bias instability. This limits their current use to less demanding appl...