Integration of front-end electronics with GaAs pixel detectors: experimental and feasibility analysis

Author

Bertuccio, G. ; Canali, C. ; De Geronimo, G. ; Lanzieri, C. ; Longoni, A. ; Nava, F.

Author_Institution

Dipt. di Elettronica e Inf., Politecnico di Milano, Italy

Volume

46

Issue

4

fYear

1999

fDate

8/1/1999 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1209

Lastpage

1214

Abstract

This work aims to study the feasibility of the integration, on the same chip, of GaAs pixel detectors and front-end electronics employing GaAs metal semiconductor FETs (MESFETs) or high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). The interest of fully integrated GaAs systems lies in X and γ-ray spectroscopy and imaging for scientific, industrial, and medical applications. The system design criteria and the prediction of the performance have been derived on the basis of recent experimental results on semi-insulating GaAs pixel detectors. Measurements of the relevant parameters of GaAs FETs suitable for the stringent requirements of a spectroscopy-grade front-end amplifier are analyzed. It is shown that an optimized GaAs integrated system can reach an electronic noise level below 100 electrons rms (<1 keV FWHM) even at room temperature. Some open problems regarding the detector-electronics integration are highlighted and discussed

Keywords

Schottky gate field effect transistors; gallium arsenide; high electron mobility transistors; nuclear electronics; pulse amplifiers; semiconductor counters; GaAs; GaAs pixel detectors; HEMT; MESFET; electronic noise; front-end amplifier; front-end electronics; high electron mobility transistors; room temperature; Biomedical equipment; Detectors; FETs; Gallium arsenide; HEMTs; MESFETs; MODFETs; Medical services; Optical imaging; Spectroscopy;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/23.785735

Filename

785735