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.

The BRIght Target Explorer (BRITE) constellation is revolutionary in the sense that the same scientific objectives can be achieved smaller (cm3 versus m3 ) and lighter (< 10kg versus 1, 000kg). It is a space astronomy mission, observing the variations in the apparent brightness of stars. The work presented herein focuses on the assembly, integration and test of the instrument used on-board six nanosatellites that form the constellation. The instrument is composed of an optical telescope equipped with a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) imager and a dedicated computer. This thesis provides a particular in-depth look into the inner workings of CCD. Methods used to characterize the instrument CCD in terms of its bias level stability, gain factor determination, saturation, dark current and readout noise level evaluation are provided. These methodologies are not limited to CCDs and they provide the basis for anyone who wishes to characterize any type of imager for scientic applications.

The BRIght Target Explorer (BRITE) constellation is revolutionary in the sense that the same scientific objectives can be achieved smaller (cm3 versus m3 ) and lighter (< 10kg versus 1, 000kg). It is a space astronomy mission, observing the variations in the apparent brightness of stars. The work presented herein focuses on the assembly, integration and test of the instrument used on-board six nanosatellites that form the constellation. The instrument is composed of an optical telescope equipped with a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) imager and a dedicated computer. This thesis provides a particular in-depth look into the inner workings of CCD. Methods used to characterize the instrument CCD in terms of its bias level stability, gain factor determination, saturation, dark current and readout noise level evaluation are provided. These methodologies are not limited to CCDs and they provide the basis for anyone who wishes to characterize any type of imager for scientic applications.