IDeF-X HDBD: low-noise ASIC for imaging spectroscopy with semiconductor detectors in space science applications
Authors: D. Baudin, [...], B. Schneider , et al.
Published in IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science
Abstract: We present the IDeF-X HDBD integrated circuit, our latest 32-channel Application Specific Integrated Circuit devoted to semiconductor photon counting X-ray detectors, designed to read charges ranging from -40 to 40 fC. The chip reaches an Equivalent Noise Charge floor (ENC) of 17 el. rms and is optimized for low input capacitance (<10 pF). Each channel is based on an optimized charge sensitive amplifier followed by a CR-RC2 filter and a peak detector with a power consumption of 850 μW/channel. Gain and shaping times are tunable. This circuit has been designed with radiation mitigation techniques to meet space application requirements. This ASIC can read either Cadmium Telluride or Silicon detectors for imaging-spectroscopy applications. An energy resolution of 230 eV FHWM at 6 keV, and a low-level threshold of 1.2 keV were demonstrated with a single pixel silicon drift detector connected to one channel.