Multi-channel sensors in thin film technology

A novel sensor concept for the detection of the fundamental components of visible light has been developed. The multichannel sensors (3-, 4- and 6-channel detectors) based on three and four stacked amorphous thin film detectors are color moire or color aliasing free due to their vertical integration. The color separation is performed in the depth of the structure without using optical filters. The developed 3- and 4-channel detectors can be read-out with one shot whereas the color information of the 6-channel detector can be read-out with two shots. The sensors are colorimetrically characterized in order to gain further optimization criteria concerning the improvement of the sensor performance. The presented characterization model facilitates the quantification of color errors with regard to the human perception. Furthermore, the color errors of amorphous thin film sensors are compared with a commercial color CCD camera and a BiCMOS color-sensor.