We report on the recent development of a 32-channel low-noise analog front-end ASIC "KW03" for hard X-ray and gamma-ray detectors. The ASIC aims for the readout of strip or pixel (pad) detectors utilizing silicon and cadmium telluride (CdTe) as detector materials. Each readout channel includes a charge-sensitive amplifier, bandpass filters and a sample-and-hold circuit. It also includes a leakage current compensation and pole-zero cancellation circuits to meet the various detector requirements.The equivalent noise level of a typical channel reaches 89 e @ 0 pF (rms) and shows an input-capacitance characteristic of 7.5 e /pF between 0 pF and 10 pF with a power consumption of 3 mW per channel. We mounted the ASIC on a low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) package and evaluated the spectral performance by combining with a CdTe diode detector. As a result, the gamma-ray spectrum of radioactive source 241 Am was obtained with a good energy resolution of 2.23 keV (FWHM) for gamma rays of 59.5 keV at 20 C.

This paper describes the recent development of a low-noise analog front-end ASIC for CdTe detectors. The ASIC is designed on the basis of the Open-IP LSI project led by JAXA and implemented using TSMC 0.35-mm CMOS technology. The ASIC contains eight identical channels, each of which includes a charge-sensitive amplifier, band-pass filters, and a sample-and-hold circuit. Preliminary testing of the ASIC achieved noise performance of 188e À þ 7:5e À =pF. In order to verify the low-noise characteristics, the ASIC was connected to a guard-ring-equipped CdTe diode detector with dimensions of 2:4 Â 2:4 mm and having a thickness of 0.5 mm. As a result, the gamma-ray spectra of radioactive sources were obtained with good energy resolutions of 2.51 and 2.35 keV (FWHM) for gamma rays of 59.5 and 122 keV, respectively, at room temperature. r

No abstract

A 4-sides buttable CdTe-ASIC hybrid module suitable for use in an X-ray flat panel detector (FPD) has been developed by applying through silicon via (TSV) technology to the readout ASIC. The ASIC has 128 256 channels of charge integration type readout circuitry and an area of 12.9 mm 25.7 mm. The CdTe sensor of 1 mm thickness, having the same area and pixel of 100 m pitch, was fabricated from the Cl-doped CdTe single crystal grown by traveling heater method (THM). Then the CdTe pixel sensor was hybridized with the ASIC using the bumpbonding technology. The basic performance of this 4-sides buttable module was evaluated by taking X-ray images, and it was compared with that of a commercially available indirect type CsI(Tl) FPD. A prototype CdTe FPD was made by assembling 9 pieces of the 4-sides buttable modules into 3 3 arrays in which the neighboring modules were mounted on the interface board. The FPD covers an active area of 77 mm 39 mm. The results showed the great potential of this 4-sides buttable module for the new real time X-ray FPD with high spatial resolution.

We are developing low noise analog ASICs for hard X-ray and gamma-ray astronomy. They are based on a sub-micron CMOS process. Our design includes a finely-adjustable high-resistance circuit, which, for example, enables us to realize a pole-zerocancellation in the analog chain. A two-dimensional ASIC with a fast read-out scheme and a one-dimensional ASIC with an improved analog design are developed and verified. With the latter ASIC connected with a CdTe detector, we have obtained a radioactive source spectrum with an energy resolution of 4.6 keV (FWHM) at 59.5 keV.