Automatic detection and characterization of random telegraph noise in sCMOS sensors

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Özdoğru, Arda, Karpov, Sergey, Christov, Asen, Vítek, Stanislav
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Özdoğru, Arda
Karpov, Sergey
Christov, Asen
Vítek, Stanislav
author_facet Özdoğru, Arda
Karpov, Sergey
Christov, Asen
Vítek, Stanislav
contents Scientific CMOS (sCMOS) image sensors are a modern alternative to typical CCD detectors and are rapidly gaining popularity in observational astronomy due to their large sizes, low read-out noise, high frame rates, and cheap manufacturing. However, numerous challenges remain in using them due to fundamental differences between CCD and CMOS architectures, especially concerning the pixel-dependent and non-Gaussian nature of their read-out noise. One of the main components of the latter is the random telegraph noise (RTN) caused by the charge traps introduced by the defects close to the oxide-silicon interface in sCMOS image sensors, which manifests itself as discrete jumps in a pixel's output signal, degrading the overall image fidelity. In this work, we present a statistical method to detect and characterize RTN-affected pixels using a series of dark frames. Identifying RTN contaminated pixels enables post-processing strategies that mitigate their impact and the development of manufacturing quality metrics.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_24540
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Automatic detection and characterization of random telegraph noise in sCMOS sensors
Özdoğru, Arda
Karpov, Sergey
Christov, Asen
Vítek, Stanislav
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Scientific CMOS (sCMOS) image sensors are a modern alternative to typical CCD detectors and are rapidly gaining popularity in observational astronomy due to their large sizes, low read-out noise, high frame rates, and cheap manufacturing. However, numerous challenges remain in using them due to fundamental differences between CCD and CMOS architectures, especially concerning the pixel-dependent and non-Gaussian nature of their read-out noise. One of the main components of the latter is the random telegraph noise (RTN) caused by the charge traps introduced by the defects close to the oxide-silicon interface in sCMOS image sensors, which manifests itself as discrete jumps in a pixel's output signal, degrading the overall image fidelity. In this work, we present a statistical method to detect and characterize RTN-affected pixels using a series of dark frames. Identifying RTN contaminated pixels enables post-processing strategies that mitigate their impact and the development of manufacturing quality metrics.
title Automatic detection and characterization of random telegraph noise in sCMOS sensors
topic Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.24540