A CMOS microluminometer for use in a bioluminescent bioreporter integrated circuit

This thesis presents the analysis, design, fabrication, and testing of a second generation microluminometer for use in an electronic/biological chemical sensor known as a Bioluminescent Bioreporter Integrated Circuit (BBIC). The microluminometer consists of photodetection (light to analog) and signal processing (analog to digital) all integrated in a standard HP 0.5 µm CMOS process.

The basic operation of photodetection is first explained in detail and the available CMOS photodetectors are presented. A system-level overview of the microluminometer components is explored and error sources from each element are introduced. The focus of this thesis is on the redesign of the switched capacitor integrator within the microluminometer. Problems from the first design are illustrated and areas for improvements are identified. The implementation and design of these improvements are described in detail and simulations are made to verify the design. Finally, the results from testing of the fabricated prototype are presented and significant improvements compared to the first generation prototype are illustrated.