DEPFET Pixel Said to Beat 1/f Noise

The open source Sensor journal publishes a sub-electron sensitive image sensor paper "The DEPFET Sensor-Amplifier Structure: A Method to Beat 1/f Noise and Reach Sub-Electron Noise in Pixel Detectors" by Gerhard Lutz, Matteo Porro, Stefan Aschauer, Stefan Wölfel, and Lothar Strüder from 1 PNSENSOR GmbH, München D-81739, Germany.

"The repetitive non-destructive readout (RNDR) DEPFET is an ideal central element for an active pixel sensor (APS) pixel. The theory has been derived thoroughly and results have been verified on RNDR-DEPFET prototypes. A charge measurement precision of 0.18 electrons has been achieved. The device is well-suited for spectroscopic X-ray imaging and for optical photon counting in pixel sensors, even at high photon numbers in the same cell."

The concept of a DEPFET: The signal
electrons are collected in a potential minimum
(internal gate) located below the channel of a
FET located on top of the fully depleted bulk.

Thanks to BB for the link!