ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 25 -- United States Patent no. 12,720,233, issued on Aug. 25, was assigned to SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES LLC (Scottsdale, Ariz.).
"Photon counting image sensor" was invented by Gal Fadida (Odem, Israel), Ben Dror (Maale Gamla, Israel) and Erez Tadmor (Atlit, Israel).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An image sensor pixel is provided that includes a single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD), an analog counter coupled to a cathode terminal of the SPAD, and a comparator having a first input coupled to a floating diffusion node in the analog counter, a second input configured to receive a reference voltage, and a clock input configured to receive a comparator clock signal fr...