The CMOS image sensor was invented at Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to miniaturize cameras on interplanetary spacecraft. While it took some years for NASA to full adopt the technology, 23 CMOS cameras were on-board the NASA Perseverance Mars lander, rover and helicopter due to their miniature size, mass, power and excellent performance. In this talk, we will trace the path of CMOS image sensors from then until now, including the CMOS Quanta Image Sensor (QIS) for photon counting. The CMOS QIS will be compared to SPAD photon counting sensors and the merits of both will be discussed. Future trends in CMOS image sensors will be discussed and we can speculate about what is on the horizon.
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