A readout system for position sensitive measurements of X-ray using silicon strip detectors

In this paper we describe the development of a readout system for X-ray measurements using silicon strip detectors. The limitation concerning the inherent spatial resolution of silicon strip detectors has been evaluated by Monte Carlo simulation and the results are discussed. The developed readout system is based on the binary readout architecture and consists of two ASICs: RX32 front-end chip comprising 32 channels of preamplifiers, shapers and discriminators, and COUNT32 counter chip comprising 32 20-bit asynchronous counters and the readout logic. This work focuses on the design and performance of the front-end chip. The RX32 chip has been optimised for a low detector capacitance, in the range of 1–3 pF, and high counting rate applications. It can be used with DC coupled detectors allowing the leakage current up to a few nA per strip. For the prototype chip manufactured in a CMOS process all basic parameters have been evaluated by electronic measurements. The noise below 140 el rms has been achieved for a detector capacitance of 2 pF and a counting rate of 100 kHz per channel. The performance of the chip is demonstrated by measurements of complex X-ray spectra using a silicon diode array and a silicon strip detector.