Timepix, a 65k programmable pixel readout chip for arrival time, energy and/or photon counting measurements

A novel approach for the readout of a TPC at the future linear collider is to use a CMOS pixel detector combined with some kind of gas gain grid. A first test using the photon counting chip Medipix2 with GEM or Micromegas demonstrated the feasibility of such an approach. Although this experiment demonstrated that single primary electrons could be detected the chip did not provide information on the arrival time of the electron in the sensitive gas volume nor did it give any indication of the quantity of charge detected. The Timepix chip uses an external clock with a frequency of up to 100 MHz as a time reference. Each pixel contains a preamplifier, a discriminator with hysteresis and 4-bit DAC for threshold adjustment, synchronization logic and a 14-bit counter with overflow control. Moreover, each pixel can be independently configured in one of four different modes: masked mode: pixel is off, counting mode: 1-count for each signal over threshold, TOT mode: the counter is incremented continuously as long as the signal is above threshold, and arrival time mode: the counter is incremented continuously from the time the first hit arrives until the end of the shutter. The chip resembles very much the Medipix2 chip physically and can be readout using slightly modified versions of the various existing systems. This paper presents the main features of the new design, electrical measurements and some first images.