Recent advances in video sensor networks and implantable biomedical devices — e.g. retinal prostheses [1]-necessitate very low-voltage, low-leakage, and energy-efficient image sensors that preferably produce their own power from ambient sources. A natural energy source for an image sensor that produces video images from impinging “sufficient” amount of light energy is the light itself. This in mind, a CMOS image sensor that can both produce power from light and capture video images on same focal plane is developed. The CMOS energy harvesting and imaging (EHI) active pixel sensor (APS) is incorporated in a 54×50 array along with low-power supporting electronics. It is designed in a mature 0.5μm 2P3M CMOS process that has only high-V t  transistors.
['Suat U. Ay']
A 1.32pW/frame•pixel 1.2V CMOS energy-harvesting and imaging (EHI) APS imager