Singular launches programmable single-photon sensor

Singular Photonics, a UK startup specializing in advanced sensors, has launched a single-photon avalanche detector (SPAD) that it claims will bring “unprecedented” flexibility and intelligence to imaging applications.

Known as “Litavis” - the name of an ancient Celtic earth goddess - the device combines high-sensitivity light detection with on-chip logic processing to unify imaging, timing, histogramming, and photon statistics on a single chip.

Potential users will soon be able to check those capabilities with the firm directly, thanks to demonstrations at next week’s SPIE Sensors + Imaging event in Edinburgh, and the VISION trade show taking place in Stuttgart, Germany, in early October.

The launch comes shortly after Singular, which is also based in Edinburgh, raised just over $2 million in venture funding intended to accelerate the development of a new generation of sensors.

Sensitive and scalable

“Litavis introduces a software-configurable sensing architecture capable of combining photon-counting imaging, programmable time gating, and advanced photon timing within a scalable SPAD array platform,” announced the startup.

The SPAD is said to be the first such device to enable simultaneous intensity, timing, and histogramming modes. The system also enables users to dynamically adapt sensor parameters in software without requiring new hardware designs.

“By processing photon events directly on-chip, Litavis significantly reduces the amount of raw data that must be transferred and processed externally,” states the firm. “This enables more scalable real-time imaging systems through lower latency, improved power efficiency and faster decision-making.”

Singular CEO and co-founder Shahida Imani added: “Litavis combines the sensitivity advantages of SPAD technology with the adaptability and scalability increasingly required by modern multimodal imaging.

“It condenses these into one intelligent sensor, enabling a new generation of imaging systems built on a single, configurable platform.

“We designed Litavis to serve multiple applications and markets, and we’ve already received significant pre-order volumes from companies and institutions around the world.”

Picosecond resolution

According to technical details provided by Singular, Litavis delivers continuous 256 × 256-pixel photon-counting imaging under low-light conditions. In parallel, time-stamped photon events are generated at a lower rate on a 64 × 64 macropixel grid, providing picosecond-resolution photon timing alongside full-resolution photon counting.

The sensor also supports multi-event timing, allowing multiple detected photons per excitation cycle to be individually time-binned, and in-pixel histogramming.

“These capabilities provide access to temporal statistics beyond conventional intensity measurements,” explains the firm, adding that the feature supports applications such as fluorescence lifetime imaging, dynamic light scattering, and quantum sensing.

Litavis also integrates configurable acquisition and timing capabilities directly within the pixel array, meaning that developers and system integrators can rapidly prototype, evaluate, and deploy advanced imaging solutions using a single, adaptable platform.

Among Singular’s collaborators is the UK-headquartered metrology and analytical equipment maker Renishaw, which has deployed the startup’s earlier 512-pixel “Sirona” sensors to advance its Raman microscopy offering.

Operating modes supported by the new Litavis SPAD are said to include multiple time-correlated single-photon counting, high-dynamic-range photon counting modes with selectable resolution, windowed and coincidence-based detection for advanced temporal analysis, and combined time-stamping and imaging modes.