Xavier Llopart

The Medipix3 Prototype, a Pixel Readout Chip Working in Single Photon Counting Mode with Improved Spectrometric Performance

A prototype pixel detector readout chip has been developed with a new front-end architecture aimed at eliminating the spectral distortion produced by charge diffusion in highly segmented semiconductor detectors. In the new architecture neighbouring pixels communicate with one another. At the corner of each pixel summing circuits add the total charge deposited in each sub-group of 4 pixels. Arbitration logic assigns a hit to the summing circuit with the highest charge. In the case where incoming X-ray photons produce fluorescence-a particular issue in high-Z materials-the charge deposited by those fluorescent photons will be included in the charge sum provided that the deposition takes place within the volume of the pixels neighbouring the initial impact point. The chip is configurable such that either the dimensions of each detector pixel match those of one readout pixel or detector pixels are 4 times greater in area than the readout pixels. In the latter case event-by-event summing is still possible between the larger pixels. As well as this innovative analog front-end circuit, each pixel contains comparators, logic circuits and two 15-bit counters. When the larger detector pixels are used these counters can be configured to permit multiple thresholds in a pixel providing spectroscopic information. The prototype chip has been designed and manufactured in an 8-metal 0.13 mum CMOS technology. First measurements show an electronic pixel noise of ~ 72 e-rms (Single Pixel Mode) and ~ 140 e-rms (Charge Summing Mode).

Charge Summing in Spectroscopic X-Ray Detectors With High-Z Sensors

The spectroscopic performance of photon counting detectors is limited by the effects of charge sharing between neighboring pixels and the emission of characteristic X-rays. For these reasons, an event can be either missed or counted more than once. These effects become more and more of a concern when pixel pitches are reduced, and for the technology available so far, this meant that there would always be a trade-off between a high spatial and a high spectral resolution. In this work, we present first measurements obtained with the new Medipix3RX ASIC, which features a network of charge summing circuits establishing a communication between pixels which helps to mitigate these effects. Combined with cadmium telluride sensors, we show that this new technology is successful at improving a detectors spectroscopic capabilities even at pixel pitches as small as 55 μm. At this pitch, we measure an energy response function similar to that observed for a pixel pitch of 165 μm in the absence of a charge summing circuitry. This amounts to an effective reduction of the pixel area by at least one order of magnitude at a comparable energy response. Additionally, we present synchrotron measurements at high X-ray fluxes, where significant pulse pile-up occurs, and provide first experimental evidence for a net benefit when balancing spectroscopic performance and high flux tolerance in charge summing mode.

Characterization of Medipix3 With Synchrotron Radiation

Medipix3 is the latest generation of photon counting readout chips of the Medipix family. With the same dimensions as Medipix2 (256 × 256 pixels of 55 μm × 55 μm pitch each), Medipix3 is however implemented in an 8-layer metallization 0.13 μm CMOS technology which leads to an increase in the functionality associated with each pixel over Medipix2. One of the new operational modes implemented in the front-end architecture is the Charge Summing Mode (CSM). This mode consists of a charge reconstruction and hit allocation algorithm which eliminates event-by-event the low energy counts produced by charge-shared events between adjacent pixels. The present work focuses on the study of the CSM mode and compares it to the Single Pixel Mode (SPM) which is the conventional readout method for these kind of detectors and it is also implemented in Medipix3. Tests of a Medipix3 chip bump-bonded to a 300 μm thick silicon photodiode sensor were performed at the Diamond Light Source synchrotron to evaluate the performance of the new Medipix chip. Studies showed that when Medipix3 is operated in CSM mode, it generates a single count per detected event and consequently the charge sharing effect between adjacent pixels is eliminated. However in CSM mode, it was also observed that an incorrect allocation of X-rays counts in the pixels occurred due to an unexpectedly high pixel-to-pixel threshold variation. The present experiment helped to better understand the CSM operating mode and to redesign the Medipix3 to overcome this pixel-to-pixel mismatch.

Study of charge-sharing in MEDIPIX3 using a micro-focused synchrotron beam

X-ray photon-counting detectors consisting of a silicon pixel array sensor bump-bonded to a CMOS electronic readout chip offer several advantages over traditional X-ray detection technologies used for synchrotron applications. They offer high frame rate, dynamic range, count rate capability and signal-to-noise ratio. A survey of the requirements for future synchrotron detectors carried out at the Diamond Light Source synchrotron highlighted the needs for detectors with a pixel size of the order of 50?m. Reducing the pixel size leads to an increase of charge-sharing events between adjacent pixels and, therefore, to a degradation of the energy resolution and image quality of the detector. This effect was observed with MEDIPIX2, a photon-counting readout chip with a pixel size of 55?m. The lastest generation of the MEDIPIX family, MEDIPIX3, is designed to overcome this charge-sharing effect in an implemented readout operating mode referred to as Charge Summing Mode. MEDIPIX3 has the same pixel size as MEDIPIX2, but it is implemented in an 8-metal 0.13?m CMOS technology which enables increased functionality per pixel. The present work focuses on the study of the charge-sharing effect when the MEDIPIX3 is operated in Charge Summing Mode compared to the conventional readout mode, referred to as Single Pixel Mode. Tests of a standard silicon photodiode array bump-bonded to MEDIPIX3 were performed in beamline B16 at the Diamond Light Source synchrotron. A monochromatic micro-focused beam of 2.9?m x 2.2?m size at 15keV was used to scan a cluster of nine pixels in order to study the charge collection and X-ray count allocation process for each readout mode, Single Pixel Mode and Charge Summing Mode. The study showed that charge-shared events were eliminated when Medipix3 was operated in Charge Summing Mode.

Charge collection from proton and alpha particle tracks in silicon pixel detector devices

The lateral spread of charge carriers under the influence of the electric field in a pixellated silicon detector hit by a heavy charged particle, such as a proton or an alpha-particle, causes a sharing of the charge between the electrodes and many pixels have a signal. The results of the charge sharing effect measured in the Medipix2 and Timepix pixel detectors of 300 mum thicknesses is shown as a function of particle energy and applied bias voltage. A model describing the effects of funneling, plasma and diffusion on the charge collection and its sharing will be also presented. Using Timepix, it is possible to measure directly the quantity of charge deposited in each pixel within the cluster and to follow changes in charge collection as a function of collection time. This allows 3D-visualization of individual tracks of charged particles in silicon with Timepix.

Medipix3RX: Characterizing the Medipix3 Redesign With Synchrotron Radiation

The Medipix3RX is the latest version of the Medipix3 photon counting ASICs, which implements two new operational modes, with respect to the Medipix2 ASIC, aimed at eliminating charge shared events (referred to as Charge Summing Mode (CSM)) and at providing spectroscopic information (referred to as Colour Mode (CM)). The Medipix3RX is a redesign of the Medipix3v0 ASIC and corrects for the underperformance of CSM features observed in the previous version. This paper presents the results from synchrotron X-rays tests to evaluate the Medipix3RX ASIC performance. The newly implemented CSM algorithm eliminates the charge sharing effect at the same time as allocating the event to the readout pixel corresponding to the sensor pixel where the X-ray photon impinged. The new pixel trimming circuit led to a reduced dispersion between pixels. Further results of the linearity for all the gain modes, energy resolution and pixel uniformity are also presented.

Evaluation of the radiation hardness and Charge Summing Mode of a Medipix3-based detector with synchrotron radiation

Synchrotron applications such as coherent X-ray diffraction and X-ray photon-correlation spectroscopy require detectors with a pixel pitch of 50 μm as highlighted by a survey with beamline scientists of Diamond Light Source synchrotron. Furthermore, the detector should also have a high frame rate, large dynamic range and large detection efficiency. The Medipix3 readout chip with a pixel pitch of 55 μm emerged as a good candidate to develop a new detector for the aforementioned applications. Additionally, it implements a new operating mode, referred to as Charge Summing Mode (CSM), with the purpose of eliminating charge-shared events. This mode can be very useful in this case, since the charge-sharing effect increases as the detector pixel size decreases. Also, its design is expected to be more radiation hard that its predecessor Medipix2. The present work focuses on the evaluation of the radiation hardness and the CSM operating mode of a Medipix3-based detector in order to develop a large area detector for synchrotron applications.

Imaging by photon counting with 256x256 pixel matrix

Using 0.25μm standard CMOS we have developed 2-D semiconductor matrix detectors with sophisticated functionality integrated inside each pixel of a hybrid sensor module. One of these sensor modules is a matrix of 256x256 square 55μm pixels intended for X-ray imaging. This device is called Medipix2 and features a fast amplifier and two-level discrimination for signals between 1000 and 100000 equivalent electrons, with overall signal noise ~150 e- rms. Signal polarity and comparator thresholds are programmable. A maximum count rate of nearly 1 MHz per pixel can be achieved, which corresponds to an average flux of 3x10exp10 photons per cm2. The selected signals can be accumulated in each pixel in a 13-bit register. The serial readout takes 5-10 ms. A parallel readout of ~300 μs could also be used. Housekeeping functions such as local dark current compensation, test pulse generation, silencing of noisy pixels and threshold tuning in each pixel contribute to the homogeneous response over a large sensor area. The sensor material can be adapted to the energy of the X-rays. Best results have been obtained with high-resistivity silicon detectors, but also CdTe and GaAs detectors have been used. The lowest detectable X-ray energy was about 4 keV. Background measurements have been made, as well as measurements of the uniformity of imaging by photon counting. Very low photon count rates are feasible and noise-free at room temperature. The readout matrix can be used also with visible photons if an energy or charge intensifier structure is interposed such as a gaseous amplification layer or a microchannel plate or acceleration field in vacuum.

Preliminary Results using Timepix as a Particle Tracking Detector

A series of tests in CERN’s North Area beam facility have been used to demonstrate the suitability of the Timepix chip, combined with a silicon sensor, as a particle tracking device. Specifically of interest is the potential of a successor to the current chip to be used in the context of an LHCb VELO upgrade. The 55mm square pixels, large active fraction and analogue information make the chip very attractive for forward, high precision tracking systems such as the VELO. In this contribution preliminary results are presented showing the resolution achieved by a Timepix assembly in a 120GeV p beam, over a wide range of incident angles. At the optimum angle the detector was able to provide an unbiased track residual of 5.5mm. The telescope constructed for these measurements contributed a track extrapolation error of 2.5mm. The plans for a future development of this telescope, also based on Timepix assemblies are discussed, with proposals for upgrading its spatial and timing resolution.