Image Reconstruction from Readout-Multiplexed Single-Photon Detector Arrays

Readout multiplexing is a promising solution to overcome hardware limitations and data bottlenecks in imaging with single-photon detectors. Conventional multiplexed readout processing creates an upper bound on photon counts at a very fine time scale, where measurements with multiple detected photons must either be discarded or allowed to introduce significant bias. We formulate multiphoton coincidence resolution as an inverse imaging problem and introduce a solution framework to probabilistically resolve the spatial locations of photon incidences. Specifically, we develop a theoretical abstraction of row--column multiplexing and a model of photon events that make readouts ambiguous. Using this, we propose a novel estimator that spatially resolves up to four coincident photons. Our estimator achieves a 3 to 4 dB increase in the peak signal-to-noise ratio of image reconstruction compared to traditional methods at higher incidence photon fluxes. Additionally, this method achieves a ~4 reduction in the required number of readout frames to achieve the same mean-squared error as other methods. Finally, our solution matches the Cramer-Rao bound for detection probability estimation for a wider range of incident flux values compared to conventional methods. While demonstrated for a specific detector type and readout architecture, this method can be extended to more general multiplexing with different detector models.