Detection and analysis of single event upsets in noisy digital imagers with small to medium pixels

Camera sensors are shrinking, resulting in more defects seen through image analysis. Due to cosmic radiation, camera experience both permanent defects known as hot pixels and temporal defective spikes which are Single Event Upsets (SEUs). SEUs manifest themselves as temporal random bright areas in sequential dark-frame images that are taken with long exposure times. In the past, it was difficult to separate SEUs from noise in dark-frame images taken with DSLRs at high sensitivity levels (ISO) and cell phone cameras at modest sensitivity levels. However, recent software improvements in this research have enabled the analysis of defect rates in noisy digital imagers – by leveraging local area and pixel address distribution techniques. In addition, multiple experiments were performed to understand the relationship of SEUs and elevation. This study reports data from imagers with pixels ranging from 7 μm (DSLR cameras) down to 1.2 μm (cell phone cameras).