A NEW CMOS READOUT CIRCUIT FOR VO2-BASED UNCOOLED FOCAL PLANE ARRAYS

A new CMOS readout circuit for VO₂-based uncooled FPAs is presented in this paper. The on-chip readout circuit consists of three major parts: An input circuit of BCDI structure, a column-shared integration circuit of CTIA structure, and a common CDS output circuit. The simple configuration of the input circuit makes it possible to operate more circuits in parallel, and increases the integration time and number of pixels, the column-shared integration circuit which is suitable for small pixel size provides low noise, high gain, a highly stable detector bias, and high photon current injection efficiency, and the common CDS output circuit is utilized to reduce or eliminate low-frequency noise of the readout circuit. An experimental readout chip for 50-μm-pitch 32×32 element VO₂-based uncooled FPAs has been fabricated. The measurement results of the fabricated readout chip have successfully verified its readout function and excellent performance.