Devis Contarato

Development of a compact fast CCD camera and resonant soft x-ray scattering endstation for time-resolved pump-probe experiments

The designs of a compact, fast CCD (cFCCD) camera, together with a resonant soft x-ray scattering endstation, are presented. The cFCCD camera consists of a highly parallel, custom, thick, high-resistivity CCD, readout by a custom 16-channel application specific integrated circuit to reach the maximum readout rate of 200 frames per second. The camera is mounted on a virtual-axis flip stage inside the RSXS chamber. When this flip stage is coupled to a differentially pumped rotary seal, the detector assembly can rotate about 100°/360° in the vertical/horizontal scattering planes. With a six-degrees-of-freedom cryogenic sample goniometer, this endstation has the capability to detect the superlattice reflections from the electronic orderings showing up in the lower hemisphere. The complete system has been tested at the Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and has been used in multiple experiments at the Linac Coherent Light Source, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

A monolithic pixel sensor in 0.15μm fully depleted SOI technology

Abstract This letter presents the design of a monolithic pixel sensor with 10 × 10 μ m 2 pixels in OKI 0.15 μ m fully depleted SOI technology and first results of its characterisation. The response of the chip to charged particles has been studied on the 1.35 GeV e - beam at the LBNL ALS.

Lithium ion irradiation effects on epitaxial silicon detectors

Diodes manufactured on a thin and highly doped epitaxial silicon layer grown on a Czochralski silicon substrate have been irradiated by high energy lithium ions in order to investigate the effects of high bulk damage levels. This information is useful for possible developments of pixel detectors in future very high luminosity colliders because these new devices present superior radiation hardness than nowadays silicon detectors. The reverse current increase, the variation of the depletion voltage, and their annealing characteristics, as well as the charge collection properties, are presented and discussed.

High speed, direct detection 1k Frame-Store CCD sensor for synchrotron radiation

This work presents the development of a high speed, direct detection, 1k Frame Store CCD camera for synchrotron radiation. We review the research and development of this detector from small scale prototypes to a megapixel sensor, highlighting design challenges and solutions, and reporting on the achieved imaging performance. Further, we report on performance improvements obtained by implementing a second-generation fast readout integrated circuit manufactured in 0.25µm CMOS technology, as well as a voltage buffer chip manufactured in high voltage 0.35µm CMOS technology. The camera presented in this paper is high vacuum-compatible to allow for soft X-ray detection.

Total Dose Effects on a FD-SOI Technology for Monolithic Pixel Sensors

Monolithic pixel detectors in deep-submicron Fully Depleted (FD) Silicon On Insulator (SOI) technology have been developed and characterized. This summary presents the first assessments of the total dose effect from ionizing radiation performed on such detectors. This work, performed on single transistor test structures, shows how the substrate bias condition during irradiation plays a dramatic role on the resulting radiation damage.

A 1MPixel fast CCD sensor for X-ray imaging

This paper describes the performance of a 1MPixel Frame Store CCD sensor for soft X-ray applications at synchrotron light sources. This camera can be operated in frame store mode with a 1Mpixel imaging area running at 200fps, or in full frame mode with a 2M pixels imaging area running at 100fps. The CCD has 192 outputs that are serviced by custom-designed integrated circuits that perform correlated double-sampling signal processing and digitization. The digitized data is acquired by a custom made image acquisition and camera controller board based on the Advanced Telecommunication Computing Architecture system. Results obtained during a test run at the Advanced Light Source are presented demonstrating the X-ray camera performance.

Monolithic pixel sensors in deep-submicron SOI Technology

Monolithic pixel sensors for charged particle detection and imaging applications have been designed and fabricated using commercially available, deep-submicron Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) processes, which insulate a thin layer of integrated full CMOS electronics from a high-resistivity substrate by means of a buried oxide. The substrate is contacted from the electronics layer through vias etched in the buried oxide, allowing pixel implanting and reverse biasing. This paper summarizes the performances achieved with a first prototype manufactured in the OKI 0.15 μm FD-SOI process, featuring analog and digital pixels on a 10 μm pitch. The design and preliminary results on the analog section of a second prototype manufactured in the OKI 0.20 μm FD-SOI process are briefly discussed.

Fast, radiation hard, direct detection CMOS imagers for high resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy

This work presents the development of radiation-hard CMOS monolithic pixel sensors as direct electron detectors for high resolution, fast dynamic imaging in Transmission Electron Microscopy. The R&D path from small scale prototypes to megapixel, reticle size sensors manufactured in 0.35 and 0.18 µm commercial CMOS processes is briefly reviewed. Design challenges and solutions are highlighted, with reporting on the achieved imaging performance and radiation hardness of sensors that can ultimately achieve readout rates as high as 6.4 gigapixels/s. Further, we will report on the latest search for an improved pixel architecture and layout, and introduce the evaluation of a first prototype sensor manufactured in a 65 nm CMOS process.

A readout system for high-speed CCD cameras based on Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture

This paper describes the performance of a scalable readout system for high-speed CCD sensors based on the Advanced Telecommunication Computing Architecture specification. The paper reports the readout system performance tested with a IMPixel Frame Store CCD sensor for soft X-ray applications at synchrotron light sources. This camera is capable of producing image data at over 400 MB/s which must be processed in real-time and stored to disk. The high-level hardware architecture, signal processing data flow, and network protocol optimization are also be presented.

Development of an ATCA based data acquisition system for high speed, direct detection X-ray pixel sensors

Large format X-ray pixel sensors operating at frame rates higher than 100 frames per second have driven the need to develop data acquisition systems capable of handling large volumes of acquired data using ultra-fast communication links operating at 10 Gigabit/s rates. The new generation 1 Megapixel X-Ray cameras currently being developed at LBNL, operating at readout speeds of up to 200 frames per second, are capable of producing greater than 400 Megabytes of image data per second. Because these sensors are used in continuous source applications with long acquisition periods (e.g., at synchrotron radiation light sources), the acquired data must be reliably processed and stored in real-time to minimize exposure dead time or data loss that could compromise the integrity of the data and thus limit the scientific reach of the experiment. This work describes the development and performance of an Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture (ATCA) based data acquisition system used for high speed, direct detection X-ray pixel sensors, focusing on the technical challenges and solutions of moving large data volumes through digital signal processing algorithms and to storage arrays in real-time.