Introduction

The aim of image sensors is to transcribe, as faithfully as possible, the image of a lighted object, or of a source of light, formed on their surface by an appropriate optical system.

This presentation mainly focuses on the two major types of optoelectronic sensors used today: CCD sensors and CMOS sensors:

• CCD (Charge Coupled Device), that Collects, Transfers and Converts the electrical charge generated by incident photons.

• CMOS (Complimentary Metal Oxyde Semiconductor), that Collects and Converts on the site of collection of the electrical charge generated by the incident photons.

Historically, the first video cameras worked with photographic films, then with tubes as detectors, and only the central part of the tube was used.

With the appearance of semiconductors, the first CCD sensors appeared in the 1970s and the advances made in physics of solids as much as in electronics (growth techniques, photolithography, nanoetching, ...) have made it possible to have simpler and simpler and more and more efficient manufacturing processes. In the late 1990s, CMOS sensors supplanted ultra-fast photographic films for high speed acquisition of images. Finally, their explosive growth in the 2000s and the development of broadband and high-speed means of telecommunication, led to their use in different fields as diverse as remote surveillance, video communication... or quite simply as presence sensor in its simplest form (one single photodiode). Eventually, the complete replacement of photographic emulsions is expected, including in scientific fields with high spatial resolution request such as holography, satellite and astronomical imaging.