A Multi-Channel Radiation-Tolerant, Low-Power, High-Speed and Resolution Analog-to-Digital Converter for Nuclear Physics Detectors
Radiation tolerant semiconductors are needed in various harsh environments, such as particle detectors, communication satellites, high-altitude avionics and medical imagining equipment. These include amplifiers, voltage regulators, analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and digital logic circuitry. In particular, ADC systems comprising multiple channels are in need in nuclear physics experiments for the purpose of digitizing the signals from multiple detectors concurrently. However, radiation-tolerant high-speed ADCs currently cost more than $30k per channel and have high power consumption. This need, as well as the shortcomings in available solutions, motivate the development of a highly integrated and power-efficient solution for a cost effective, radiation-tolerant, multi-channel ADC of high sampling rate and resolution, which has been the focus of this research program. In this research program, a radiation-tolerant, single channel, 1 Gigabit-per-second 12-bit ADC was designed and fabricated using a state-of-the-art 28nm CMOS silicon fabrication process. This structure was to serve as the basis for an eventual multi-channel solution. The design was successfully validated, including the characterization of radiation effects. In addition, a dedicated test chip, comprising various test structures, was designed and fabricated to evaluate different aspects of the radiation performance of the 28nm CMOS silicon fabrication process. The results of these efforts are reported here.
- Research Organization:
- TallannQuest LLC DBA Apogee Semiconductor
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP)
- DOE Contract Number:
- SC0018442
- OSTI ID:
- 1889039
- Type / Phase:
- STTR (Phase II)
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-APG-18442
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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