Patent · US Active

Integrated optical biosensor array including charge injection circuit and quantizer circuit

US8969781B2 · kind B2 · utility

14Cited by
5References
8Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJun 28, 2012
Grant dateMar 3, 2015
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 31, 2032

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH03F3/08
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

An optical biosensor pixel for detecting the amount of light that is generated by the biosensing process and a biosensor array architecture that includes such biosensor pixels. The optical biosensor pixel includes a photodiode configured to convert an incident photon flux into a current. Additionally, the optical biosensor pixel includes an optical filter configured to select specific wavelengths and/or photon flux angles to reach the photodiode from a biological sample. The biosensor pixel further includes a trans-impedance amplifier coupled to the photodiode, where the trans-impedance amplifier is configured to convert the current into a voltage signal. Additionally, the biosensor pixel includes a 1-bit comparator coupled to the trans-impedance amplifier and a 1-bit digital-to-analog converter coupled to the 1-bit comparator, where the 1-bit digital-to-analog converter injects different levels of charge into an input of the trans-impedance amplifier at each cycle based on an output of the 1-bit comparator.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.