Measurement and analysis of defect development in digital imagers

This thesis experimentally investigated the development of defects in commercial cameras ranging from high-end DSLRs, moderate point-and-shoot, to cellphone cameras. All tested cameras operating in the terrestrial environment developed hot pixels. In this study, calibration procedures are used to measure defect parameters and collect spatial data. Software tools are built to trace the temporal growth of defects from historical camera images. The imaging processes, demosaicing, jpeg are explored for its effect on defects. Statistical methods are developed to analyze the spatial and temporal distribution and identify the defect causal source. The impact of camera design parameters: ISO, sensor and pixel size on the imager defects are investigated. An empirical formula is created from the data to project the defect growth rate as a function of the sensor design parameters. Also, the multi-finger photogate pixels are measured over the visible spectrum and the enhancement in sensitivity of these designs are explored.