Poussée par une forte demande et un marché très compétitif, la technologie PPD CIS est en évolution permanente. Du fait de leurs très bonnes performances en terme de bruit, les capteurs d’image CMOS à base de Photodiode Pincée (PPD CIS) peuvent désormais atteindre une sensibilité de l’ordre de quelques photons, ce qui rend cette technologie particulièrement intéressante pour les applications d’imagerie à haute résolution temporelle. Aujourd’hui, la physique des photodiodes pincées n’est pas encore comprise dans sont intégralité et il y a un manque important d’uniformisation des méthodes de caractérisation de ces détecteurs. Ces travaux s’intéressent à la définition, à la modélisation analytique, à la simulation et à l’estimation de paramètres clés des PPD CIS, tels que le temps de transfert, la tension de pincement et la full well capacity (FWC). Comme il a été mis en évidence par cette thèse, il est de première importance de comprendre l’effet des conditions expérimentales sur les performances de ces capteurs. Ceci aussi bien pour l’optimisation de ces paramètres lors de la conception du capteur, que lors de la phase de caractérisions de celui-ci, et enfin pour choisir correctement les conditions de mesures lors de la mise en œuvre du dispositif. / Driven by an aggressive market competition, CMOS Image Sensor technology is in continuous evolution. Thanks to the outstanding noise performances of Pinned Photodiode (PPD) CIS, CMOS sensors can now reach a few photons sensitivity, which makes this technology a particularly interesting candidate for high temporal resolution applications. Despite the incredibly large production volume, today, the PPD physics is not yet fully understood, and there is still a lack of golden standards for the characterization of PPD performances. This thesis focuses on the definition, analytical modeling, simulation and estimation of PPD key design parameters, with a particular focus on charge mechanisms, on the pinning voltage and on the full well capacity. The models developed in this work can help both manufacturers and users understanding the design trade-offs and the dependence of these parameters from the experimental conditions, in order to optimize the sensor design, to correctly characterize the image sensor, and to adjust the operation conditions to reach optimum performances.

Le travail de thèse a consisté, en priorité, à s’approprier les technologies d’intégration verticale en usage dans l’industrie pour réaliser des mémoires à plusieurs étages, et à en évaluer l’apport pour les capteurs à pixel CMOS (CPS). Cette approche s’appuie sur la capacité de l’industrie à interconnecter des puces amincies empilées les unes sur les autres. Elle ouvre la perspective d’associer plusieurs microcircuits superposés à un même pixel, en dépits de sa taille réduite. L’interconnexion est donc réalisée au niveau du pixel. Ce saut technologique permet de lever la majorité des obstacles à l’obtention de performances optimales des CPS. On peut en particulier combiner des puces réalisées dans des technologies CMOS très différentes, chacune optimale pour une fonctionnalité précise. La collection des charges du signal peut ainsi être réalisée dans une couche dédiée, les microcircuits de conditionnement analogique des signaux peuvent être concentrés dans une autre couche, une troisième couche pouvant héberger les parties numériques assurant la compression puis la transmission des signaux, etc. Ce progrès se traduit notamment par la possibilité de combiner haute résolution spatiale et lecture rapide, avec une amélioration probable de la tolérance aux rayonnements intenses.On s’affranchit de cette manière des limitations provenant des paramètres de fabrication des fondeurs, qui ne permettent pas à l’heure actuelle, de pleinement exploiter le potentiel des CPS à l’aide d’une technologie CMOS unique. / The thesis has been a priority as taking ownership of vertical integration technologies used in the industry to realize a multistage development, and to evaluate the contributions on CMOS pixel sensors (CPS). 3D integration technologies (3DIT) provide a way to mitigate this hampering correlation between speed and resolution, since they allow to staple layers of readout circuitry on top of the sensing layer, which results in a drastic increase of the functionalities located in (the shadow of) each pixel. A multi-layer structure allows for a higher spatial resolution because more and more transistors may be integrated vertically in a relatively small pixel. Moreover, bringing the components of the sensor closer to each other translates in a faster readout, owing to the reduction in the average length of the inner connecting wires. Vertical integration also opens up the possibility of combining different technologies best suited to each of the sensor main functionalities (signal sensing, analog and digital signal processing and transmission). It overcomes the limitations in this way from the foundry manufacturing parameters, which do not allow to fully exploit the potential ofCPS with a single CMOS technology. 3D-CPS are thus expected to overcome most of the limitations of standard 2DCPS, and are therefore suspected to over new perspectives for the innermost layer of the ILC vertex detector.

Prévue pour 2024, une série d’améliorations doit être apportée au grand collisionneur d’hadrons du CERN (LHC) de manière à élargir son potentiel de découverte de nouvelle physique. Cette thèse se situe dans la perspective des études d’amélioration du détecteur ATLAS dans ce nouvel environnement, et concerne une nouvelle technologie monolithique HV/HR CMOS qui pourrait être utilisée pour les détecteurs de traces centraux pixélisés. Cette technologie a le potentiel de permettre la réduction de l’épaisseur des détecteurs, d'augmenter la granularité ainsi que de réduire les couts de production.Au sein de la collaboration HV/HR CMOS d’ATLAS, divers prototypes ont été développés en utilisant les technologies de différents partenaires industriels : GlobalFoundries (GF) BCDlite 130 nm et LFoundry (LF) 150 nm entre autres. Pour comprendre le comportement électrique et la capacité de détection de telles technologies, des simulations TCAD -Technology Computer Aided Design- en 2D et 3D ont été réalisées pour extraire le profil de la zone déplétée, la tension de claquage, la capacitance ainsi que la collection de charges ionisées des prototypes. Le développement de systèmes de test complexes et la caractérisation des prototypes HV/HR CMOS ont aussi été une partie du travail fourni pour cette thèse. Les programmes d’acquisition, en particulier pour ce qui concerne les tests sous protons ou auprès d’irradiateurs à rayons X, ainsi que les programmes de réglages de seuil ont été implémenté dans divers systèmes de test. Plusieurs versions des prototypes développés dans 3 technologies HV/HR CMOS différentes (AMS 0.18 μm HV, GF BCDlite 130nm et LF 150nm) ont été caractérisées. / A major upgrade to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), scheduled for 2024 will be brought to the machine so as to extend its discovery potential. This PhD is part of the ATLAS program and aims at studying a new monolithic technology in the framework of the design of an upgraded ATLAS inner tracker. This new type of sensor is based on a HV/HR CMOS technology, which would potentially offer lower material budget, reduced pixel pitch and lower cost with respect to the traditional hybrid pixel detector concept.Various prototypes have been developed using different HV/HR CMOS technologies from several industrial partners, within the ATLAS HV/HR collaboration, for instance Global Foundry (GF) BCDlite 130 nm and LFoundry (LF) 150 nm. In order to understand the electric behavior and the detection capabilities of these technologies, 3D and 2D Technology Computer Aided Design (TCAD) simulations have been performed to extract the depletion zone profile, the breakdown voltage, the leakage current, the capacitance as well as the charge collection of the prototypes. Test setup developments and characterizations of the HV/HR CMOS prototypes were also part of this thesis. The data acquisition programs, in particular dedicated to the proton test beams, X-ray sources and threshold tuning, have been implemented into various test setups. Several HV/HR CMOS prototypes developed in three HV/HR technologies, AMS 0.18 µm HV, GF BCDlite 130 nm and LF 150 nm, have been characterized.

Photos captured in the shortwave infrared (SWIR) spectrum are interesting in military applications because they are independent of what time of day the pic- ture is captured because the sun, moon, stars and night glow illuminate the earth with short-wave infrared radiation constantly. A major problem with today’s SWIR cameras is that they are very expensive to produce and hence not broadly available either within the military or to civilians. Using a relatively new tech- nology called compressive sensing (CS), enables a new type of camera with only a single pixel sensor in the sensor (a SPC). This new type of camera only needs a fraction of measurements relative to the number of pixels to be reconstructed and reduces the cost of a short-wave infrared camera with a factor of 20. The camera uses a micromirror array (DMD) to select which mirrors (pixels) to be measured in the scene, thus creating an underdetermined linear equation system that can be solved using the techniques described in CS to reconstruct the im- age. Given the new technology, it is in the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI) interest to evaluate the potential of a single pixel camera. With a SPC ar- chitecture developed by FOI, the goal of this thesis was to develop methods for sampling, reconstructing images and evaluating their quality. This thesis shows that structured random matrices and fast transforms have to be used to enable high resolution images and speed up the process of reconstructing images signifi- cantly. The evaluation of the images could be done with standard measurements associated with camera evaluation and showed that the camera can reproduce high resolution images with relative high image quality in daylight.

Le Dispositif d'Irradiation d'Agrégats Moléculaires (DIAM) est conçu pour l'étude de mécanismes de dissociation résultant de l'interaction de nanosystèmes moléculaires avec des protons de 20-150 keV. Une technique originale de spectrométrie de masse appelée COINTOF (Correlated Ion and Neutral Time Of Flight) permet la mesure corrélée du temps de vol des fragments neutres et chargés issus de la dissociation d'un système moléculaire sélectionné en masse. Une stratégie de traitement des signaux a été développée afin de pouvoir distinguer des fragments proches en temps (< 1ns). Les données collectées sont structurées dans le logiciel ROOT® pour l'analyse statistique des corrélations. Le fonctionnement de la technique COINTOF est illustré par des expériences de dissociation induite par collision d'agrégats d'eau protonés sur une cible gazeuse. La méthodologie d'analyse des données est exposée à travers l'étude du canal de dissociation du trimère d'eau protoné produisant l'ion chargé H3O+ et deux molécules d'eau. La distribution de la différence de temps de vol entre les deux fragments neutres est mesurée, mettant en évidence une énergie libérée de quelques eV. En parallèle, un second spectromètre de masse à temps de vol adapté à l'évolution du dispositif a été développé. Il associe un temps de vol linéaire et un temps de vol orthogonal et intègre un détecteur à position (ligne à retard). Des simulations ont démontré les potentialités du nouvel analyseur. Enfin, des travaux ont été menés au laboratoire R.-J. A. Lévesque (Université de Montréal) portant sur les capacités d'imagerie de détecteurs à position multi-pixel de la collaboration MPX-ATLAS. / DIAM (Dispositif d'Irradiation d'Agrégats Moléculaires) is a n ewly designed experimental setup to investigate processes resulting from the irradaition of molecular nano-systems by 20-150 keV protrons. One of its specificities relies on the original techique of mass spectrometry named COINTOF (Correlated Ion and Neutral Time of Flight) consisting in correlated measurments of the time of fkight of charged and neutral fragments produced by the dissociation of a single molecular ion parent. A strategy of treatment and analysis of the detection signals was developed to distinguish two fragments close in time (<1ns). The collected data are structured in the software ROOT for the statistical analysis of the correlations. The COINTOF technique is illustrated in the case of collision induced dissociation of protonated water clusters on atomic targets. The methodology of the analysis is explained through the study of dissociation channel of the protonated water trimer producing the charged fragment H3O+ and two water molecules. The distribution of the time of flight difference between the two neutral fragments is measured providing a,n estimate of the kinetic energy release of a few eV. In parallel, a second time-of-flight mass spectrometer was designed. It associated a linear time-of-flight and an orthogonal time-of-flight and integrates position detectors (delay line anode). Simulations demonstrate the potentials of the new analyzer. Finally, research works were led at the laboratory R.-J. A. Lévesque (Université de Montréal) on the imaging capabilities of the multi-pixel detectors of the MPX-ATLAS collaboration.

Cette thèse porte sur le développement d'un capteur de pixel monolithique CMOS utilisé pourl’identification et le comptage des particules ionisés dan l’espace avec un flux élevé. Un nouveauconcept pour l’identification de l’espèce des particules proposé dans la présente étude, est basésur l'analyse des amas de particules déclenchés. Pour valider ce nouveau concept, un capteur detaille complet, qui comprend la matrice de pixel sensible aux particules ionisés signal, une chaînede traitement du signal analogique, un convertisseur analogue numérique de 3 bits, et untraitement du signal numérique a été conçu dans un processus de 0.35 μm. Le capteur sortiedirectement des informations de flux à travers 4 canaux avec un débit de données très faible(80 bps) et dissipation d’énergie minimale (~ 100 mW). Chaque canal représente particules avecdifférentes espèces et les énergies. La densité maximum de flux mesurable est jusqu'à 108particules/cm2/s (coups s'accumulent < 5%). Un prototype à échelle réduite a été fabriqué et testéavec trois types d'illumination de rayonnement (rayons X, les électrons et laser infrarouge). Tousles résultats obtenus valident le nouveau concept proposé. Un moniteur de rayonnement spatialtrès miniaturisé basé sur un capteur de pixel CMOS peut être prévu. Le moniteur peut présente lesmêmes performances que les compteurs actuels, mais avec une dissipation de puissance réduited'un ordre de grandeur qu'un poids, un volume d'encombrement et un coût moindre. En outre, enraison de ses sorties de haut niveau et faible débit de données, aucune traitement supplémentairedu signal dehors du capteur est nécessaire, ce qui le rend particulièrement attrayant pour desapplications dan les petits satellitaires. / This thesis focuses on the development of a CMOS monolithic pixel sensor used for space ionizingparticles identification and counting in high flux. A new concept for single particle identification isproposed in this study, which is based on the analysis of particle triggered clusters. To validate thisnew concept, a full size sensor including the sensitive pixel matrix, an analogue signal processingchain, a 3-bit analogue to digital converter, and a digital processing stage was designed in a 0.35μm process. The sensor directly output particles flux information through 4 channels with a verylow data rate (80 bps) and minimal power dissipation (~ 100mW). Each channel representsparticles with different species and energies. The highest measurable flux density is up to 108particles/cm2/s (hits pile up < 5%). A reduced scale prototype was fabricated and tested with 3types of radiation illumination (X-ray, electrons and infrared laser). All the results obtained validatethe proposed new concept and a highly miniaturized space radiation monitor based on a singleCMOS pixel sensor could be foreseen. The monitor could provide measurements of comparable orbetter quality than existing instruments, but at around an order of magnitude lower powerconsumption, mass and volume and a lower unit cost. Moreover, due to its high level and low datarate outputs, no signal treatment power aside the sensor is required which makes it especiallyattractive for small satellite application.

This master thesis is engaged in problematics of creation and compensation of geometric distortions in 1D agarose electrophoresis. This master thesis analyze the problematics of cause of these distortions and summarize the theory needed for compensation of these distortions. Based on acquired theory and created electrophoretic phantoms, the master thesis contains several suggestions for compensation of incurred distortions. These suggestions are recreated into functions, which are connected into a functional user interface for gel image analysis and geometric distortions compensation.

This thesis examines the possibility of expanding the toolset for art historical studies of digital art, doing so by studying if older influential art theories can be used in image analysis of digital artworks. More specifically, the study centers around the application of Heinrich Wölfflin’s objective classifying principles as well as Erwin Panofsky’s iconology and iconography on the digital art form pixel art. The aim of the thesis is to research the level of applicability of these well-used image analysis methods on the art style, arguing for the legitimacy of pixel art as an art form as well as contributing to the expanding knowledge about digital art within the Swedish art history field. The results of the study showed that both Wölfflin’s and Panofsky’s image analysis methods are applicable on pixel art artworks, but in different ways with different prerequisites. The objective classifying principles of Wölfflin as well as the pre-iconographical stage of Panofsky’s method center around “surface level” aspects of a work of art such as lines, shading or image composition. These are aspects that in many ways differ greatly in execution between traditional painted art and pixel art, so for these methods to work there needs to be some translation to terms and aspects more applicable to pixel art. Panofsky’s iconography and iconology are on the other hand interested in “deeper” as well as contextual aspects of a work of art such as symbols or references. These aspects of pixel art artworks function in the same way as most other art, traditional or otherwise, and can therefore be directly applied without “translation”.

The use of Virtual Reality (VR) is growing in commercial use, one type of VR headset, called mobile stand-alone system has limited resources for computing and memory. Because of this, when developing real-time applications for this type of VR headset, performance needs to be heavily considered. One popular optimization technique is Level-of-Detail (LOD) which is a technique that represents a model at various resolutions. One type of LOD is called continuous LOD which can represent a model at a continuous spectrum of detail, this is not frequently used, however, because of being less intuitive and more difficult to implement than other versions. This project researched a type of continuous LOD used with a new metric called Pixel Quality Per Meter (PQPM). PQPM relies on having a minimum edge length calculated using a model's screen coverage in relation to its size. To answer whether PQPM can be used together with continuous LOD for intuitive, simple, and efficient updating and rendering in VR. The continuous LOD only uses one low-poly mesh which is tessellated with the help of a Vertex Displacement Map (VDM) to the desired quality. This approach is then evaluated using Nvidia FLIP, an image comparison application that emulates the human visual system. The result was an intuitive and easily implementable LOD which is used together with PQPM to decide the optimal quality given the models size and coverage on the screen. The usage of PQPM did not result in optimal quality at all distances, due to smaller segments being present, which could disappear completely at far distances. The continuous LOD combined with the PQPM did also not scale well but worked well at lower qualities. The study showed groundwork for how PQPM could work together with continuous LOD, it provides a more intuitive and easily implementable continuous LOD than previous approaches, however, because of the scalability issues, further work needs to be done to optimize this approach. / Användingen av Virtual Reality (VR) i kommersiellt syfte ökar, en typ av dessa VR headsets kallas mobila fristående system. Mobila fristående system har begränsade resurser när det kommer till att göra beräkningar och minne. På grund av detta måste man noga överväga prestanda. En populär optimeringsmetod kallas Level-of-Detail (LOD) vilket är en metod som kan representera en modell på ett antal olika upplösningar. En typ av LOD kallas kontinuerlig LOD som kan representera en modell med en kontinuerling detaljnivå. Denna används inte frekvent däremot på grund av att den är mindre intuitiv och svårare att implementera och uppdatera detaljnivå. Detta projektet undersökte en typ av kontinuerlig LOD där den används tillsammans med ett nytt metriskt mått som kallas Pixel Quality Per Meter (PQPM). PQPM byggs på att beräkna en minimal kantlängd via hur stor del av skärmen den täcker i relation till dess storlek. Detta undersöks för att besvara ifall PQPM kan användas tillsammans med kontinuerlig LOD för intuitiv, simpel och effektiv uppdatering och rendering i VR. Den kontinuerliga LOD använder sig bara av en low-poly mesh som är tessellerad med hjälp av en Vertex Displacement Map (VDM) till en önskad kvalitet. Detta evalueras sedan genom Nvidia FLIP, en bildjämförelseapplikation som emulerar människosyn. Resultatet var en intuitiv och enkelt implementerbar kontinuerlig LOD som användes tillsammans med PQPM för att bestämma den optimala detaljnivån baserat på modellens storlek och hur mycket av skärmen den täckte. Användingen av PQPM resulterade inte i optimal kvalitet för alla distanser, på grund av mindre segment som kunde försvinna helt på längre distanser. Den kontinuerliga LOD tillsammans med PQPM hade dålig skalning i prestanda men fungerade bra vid lägre kvalitetsnivåer. Studien visa grundarbetet för hur PQPM kan användas tillsammans med kontinuerlig LOD. Detta tillvägagångsättet tillät för ett mer intuitivt och simpelt sätt att implementera än tidigare tillvägagångssätt. Däremot, på grund av skalningsproblemen, fortsatt arbete måste göras för att optimera detta tillvägagångssättet.

Computed tomography (CT) is a widely used medical imaging modality. By rotating an x-ray tube and an x-ray detector around the patient, a CT scanner is able to measure the x-ray transmission from all directions and form an image of the patient’s interior. CT scanners in clinical use today all use energy-integrating detectors, which measure the total incident energy for each measurement interval. A photon-counting detector, on the other hand, counts the number of incoming photons and can in addition measure the energy of each photon by comparing it to a number of energy thresholds. Using photon- counting detectors in computed tomography could lead to improved signal-to-noise ratio, higher spatial resolution and improved spectral imaging which allows better visualization of contrast agents and more reliable quantitative measurements. In this Thesis, the feasibility of using a photon-counting silicon-strip detector for CT is investigated. In the first part of the Thesis, the necessary performance requirements on such a detector is investigated in two different areas: the detector element homogeneity and the capability of handling high photon fluence rates. A metric of inhomogeneity is proposed and used in a simulation study to evaluate different inhomogeneity compensation methods. Also, the photon fluence rate incident on the detector in a scanner in clinical use today is investigated for different patient sizes through dose rate measurements together with simulations of transmission through patient im- ages. In the second part, a prototype detector module is used to demonstrate new applications enabled by the energy resolution of the detector. The ability to generate material-specific images of contrast agents with iodine and gadolinium is demonstrated. Furthermore, it is shown theoretically and ex- perimentally that interfaces in the image can be visualized by imaging the so-called nonlinear partial volume effect. The results suggest that the studied silicon-strip detector is a promising candidate for photon-counting CT.