Characterization Challenges of a Low Noise Charge Detection ROIC

This article presents the experimentally characterized performance of a low noise and wideband sensor readout integrated circuit (ROIC). The ROIC is designed to detect small amounts of charge generated by a silicon p-i-n detector as a result of particle detection, with very high time resolution and limited power consumption. The architecture of the ROIC permits the analog components of the particle readout to be designed with a reduced bandwidth by implementing the so-called intersymbol interference (ISI) cancellation technique, which improves the noise performance, while reducing the deterministic ISI-induced errors associated with the narrowband circuit; hence, a low error rate (ER) can be maintained. The readout is designed to detect 160 aC charge portions delivered randomly by the detector at a maximum of 4 × 108 events/s with a small average ER while consuming 2.85 mW. Detailed information about the ROIC designed in 65-nm CMOS technology, and the simulated performance, are already reported in a previous publication. This article aims to present the challenges related to the design of the test setup and the obtained experimental results with the first prototype of the ROIC, as well as to discuss the data acquisition process.