Design of a Low-Noise Front-End Readout Circuit for CdZnTe Detectors

Bo Gan, Tingcun Wei, Wu Gao, Huiming Zeng, Yann Hu

School of Computer Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China.

DOI: 10.4236/jsip.2013.42017                

Abstract

In this paper, the design of a novel low-noise front-end readout circuit for Cadmium zinc telluride (CdZnTe) X-ray and γ-ray detectors is described. The front-end readout circuits include the charge sensitive amplifier (CSA) and the CR-RC shaper is implemented in TSMC 0.35 μm mixed-signal CMOS technology. The die size of the prototype chip is 4.9 mm × 2.2 mm. The simulation results show that, the noise performance is 46 electrons + 10 electrons/pF, and power consumption is 1.65 mW per channel.

Keywords

CdZnTe; Detector; Low Noise; Front-End; Readout; CMOS

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	M. Amman, J. S. Lee, P. N. Luke, H. Chen, S. A. Awadalla, R. Redden and G. Bindley, “Evaluation of THMGrown CdZnTe Material for Large-Volume Gamma-Ray Detector Applications,” IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, Vol. 56, No. 3, 2009, pp. 795-799. doi:10.1109/TNS.2008.2010402
[2]	L. L. Jones, P. Seller, M. Wilson and A. Hardie, “HEXITEC ASIC-A Pixellated Readout Chip for CZT Detectors,” Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A, Vol. 604, No. 1-2, 2009, pp. 34-37. doi:10.1016/j.nima.2009.01.046
[3]	O. Lazzari, S. Jacques, T. Sochi and P. Barnes, “Reconstructive Color X-ray Diffraction Imaging—A Novel TEDDI Imaging Method,” RSC Analyst, Vol. 134, No. 9, 2009, pp. 1802-1807. doi:10.1039/b901726g
[4]	E. Beuville, K. Borer, E. Chesi, E. H. M. Heijine, P. Jarron, B. Lisowski and S. Singh, “AMOLEX, a Low-Noise, Low-Power Analog CMOS Signal Processor for MultiElement Silicon Particle Detectors,” Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Vol. A288, No. 1, 1990, pp. 157-167.
[5]	L. T. Wurtz and W. P. Wheless Jr., “Design of a HighPerformance, Low Noise Charge Preamplifier,” IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems, Vol. 40, No. 8, 1993, pp. 541-545, doi:10.1109/81.242329
[6]	Y. Hu, W. Dulinski, R. Turchetta, J. Kaplon, J. Ph. Blonde and M. Schaeffer, “Design of a Low Noise, SelfTriggered, Monolithic Preamplifier Dedicated to Silicon Trackers and X-β Imaging,” Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A, Vol. 361, No. 13, 1995, pp. 568-573. doi:10.1016/0168-9002(95)00208-1
[7]	Z. Chang and W. M. Sansen, “Low-Noise, Low-Distortion CMOS AM Wide-Band Amplifiers Matching a Capacitive Source,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 25, No. 3, 1990, pp. 833-840. doi:10.1109/4.102682
[8]	M. Weng, E. Mandelli, W. W. Moses and S. E. Derenzo, “A High-Speed Low-Noise 16-Channel Charge-Sensitive Preamplifier ASIC for APD-Based PET Detectors,” IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, Vol. 50, No. 4, 2003, pp. 898-902. doi:10.1109/TNS.2003.814565
[9]	K. T. Z. Oo, E. Mandelli and W. W. Moses, “A HighSpeed Low-Noise 16-Channel CSA with Automatic Leakage Compensation In 0.35-um CMOS Process for APDBased PET Detectors,” IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, Vol. 54, No. 3, 2007, pp. 444-453. doi:10.1109/TNS.2007.893326