Review of In-Pixel Gain Amplifiers and Readout Circuits for Low-Light CMOS Image Sensors

The low-light performance of image sensors can be enhanced by designing high-effective conversion gain signal paths from photon conversion sites to chip outputs. This can be achieved by using high-gain in-pixel amplifiers, high-gain column amplifiers, and by reducing the conversion capacitance of photon-sensing nodes. However, each of these approaches presents unique challenges and limitations that have restricted their widespread adoption in low-light applications. This article reviews the use of in-pixel gain amplifiers and their signal chain electronics in high-conversion-gain complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors over the past two decades. In-pixel gain amplifiers are classified into different categories according to the type of amplification technique used. Analyses of the column-referred conversion gain and the noise of each topology are presented alongside the different metrics used to characterize CMOS image sensor pixels for low-light imaging applications. The performance metrics of various in-pixel gain amplifiers are compared, providing a framework that highlights the best achieved input-referred noise in CMOS image sensors over the past 15 years. Furthermore, different tradeoffs are examined between optimizing conversion gain, pixel full-well capacity, and input read noise in both voltage and charge domains.