21005600
Study of Single Event transients on the VELA ASIC, x-ray detectors FEE for new generation astronomical instruments
It is well known that the use of electronics components in space exposes them to ionizing radiation, which can damage the devices. A careful characterization of the sensitivity to radiation-induced damages is thus of capital importance for the critical devices. VELA (VLSI Electronic for Astronomy) is an ASIC developed at the Politecnico of Milano in collaboration with Max-Planck-Institut Semiconductor Laboratory, in 0.35 µm AMS CMOS technology, which implements the readout front-end electronics for an innovative x-ray detector, the DEPMOS-based APS, Active Pixel Sensor. This sensor is capable of providing an excellent energy resolution even at very high speed readout. The absence of the charge transfer mechanism, makes APS sensors very attractive for harsh radiation space environments. The behavior of the front-end electronics under irradiation is then a critical issue. We present a study of the Single Event Effects induced by heavy ions in VELA, in view of a possible utilization in new generation satellites for X-ray astronomy. The tests have been carried out at the SIRAD facility of the Laboratori Nazionali INFN di Legnaro. In this paper we describe the measurements and the experimental setup, designed and realized ad hoc to monitor Single Event Latch-up (SEL) and Single Event Upset (SEU).
118604795
The Soft X-ray Imager on board EXIST
The Soft X-ray Imager (SXI) is one of the three instruments on board EXIST, a multi-wavelength observatory in charge of performing a global survey of the sky in hard X-rays searching for Super-massive Black Holes (Grindlay & Natalucci, these Proceedings). One of the primary objectives of EXIST is also to study with unprecedented sensitivity the most unknown high energy sources in the Universe, like high redshift GRBs, which will be pointed promptly by the Spacecraft by autonomous trigger based on hard X-ray localization on board. The presence of a soft X-ray telescope with an effective area of about 950cm2 in the energy band 0.2-3 keV and extended response up to 10 keV will allow to make broadband studies from 0.1 to 600 keV. In particular, investigations of the spectra components and states of AGNs and monitoring of variability of sources, study of the prompt and afterglow emission of GRBs since the early phases, which will help to constrain the emission models and finally, help the identification of sources in the EXIST hard X-ray survey and the characterization of the transient events detected. SXI will also perform surveys: a scanning survey with sky coverage 2pi and a limiting flux of 5x10^(-14) cgs plus other serendipitous.
110841815
The NA62 Gigatracker: Detector properties and pixel read-out architectures
Abstract The beam spectrometer of the NA62 experiment, named Gigatracker, has to perform single track reconstruction with unprecedented time resolution (150 ps rms) in a harsh radiation environment. To meet these requirements, and in order to reduce material budget to a minimum, three hybrid silicon pixel detector stations will be installed in vacuum. An adequate strategy to compensate for the discriminator time-walk must be implemented and R&D investigating two different options is ongoing. Two read-out chip prototypes have been designed in order to compare their performance: one approach is based on the use of a constant-fraction discriminator followed by an on-pixel TDC, while the other one is based on the use of a time-over-threshold circuit followed by a TDC shared by a group of pixels. This paper describes the Gigatracker system, presents the global architectures of both read-out ASICs and reviews the current status of the R&D project.
49541949
Polarization of a stored beam by spin filtering
The PAX Collaboration has successfully performed a spin-filtering experiment with protons at the COSY-ring. The measurement allowed the determination of the spin-dependent polarizing cross section, ...
121126964
First observation of multiple volume reflection by different planes in one bent silicon crystal for high-energy protons
Abstract Multiple volume reflection by different planes in a bent silicon crystal with its 〈111〉 axis orientation close to the beam direction was observed for the first time for 400 GeV/ c protons at the CERN SPS. The proton beam was deflected to the side opposite to the crystal bend by an angle of about 67 μrad, which is five times larger than in a single volume reflection by the (110) bent planes. The registered efficiency of one side deflection was about 84%. It was shown that multiple volume reflection transforms to a single volume reflection when the orientation angle of the 〈111〉 axis relative to the beam direction is increased.
25235141
A pixel front-end ASIC in 0.13 μm CMOS for the NA62 experiment with on pixel 100 ps Time-to-Digital Converter
The paper describes the design of a front-end chip for hybrid pixel detectors optimized for good timing resolution (200 ps rms) and high event rate (150 kHz per pixel). Each channel consists of a fast transimpedance amplifier with 5 ns peaking time, a constant fraction discriminator (CFD), and a Time-to-Digital Converter (TDC). In order to cope with the rate requirement, a multi-event buffering scheme employing both analog and digital pipelines is implemented in each cell. This development is part of the R&D activity for the silicon tracker of the NA62 experiment at CERN. The architecture of the chip and the design of the critical building blocks are discussed in the paper.