CMOS TDI readout circuit that improves SNR for satellite IR applications

Abstract

A novel CMOS readout circuit for a satellite infrared time delay and integration (TDI) array is proposed. An integrate-while-read readout for the TDI scheme is adopted, and a dead pixel elimination circuit solving a critical problem of the TDI scheme is integrated within a chip. In addition, an adaptive charge capacity control method is utilised to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Using the proposed circuit, the SNR at 200K can be improved by as much as 12 dB.