A high speed and low power CMOS current comparator for photon counting systems

Author

Borghetti, Fausto ; Farina, Lorenzo ; Malcovatti, P. ; Maloberti, Franco

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Pavia Univ., Italy

Volume

1

fYear

2004

fDate

23-26 May 2004

Abstract

In this paper a CMOS current comparator for a photon counting system is proposed. The device can be used in satellite acquisition systems for UV free space studies. The circuit features a 4 bit programmable threshold, to avoid wrong counting due to the dark current of the detector and a four bits counter, to perform a post acquisition analysis. The specifications of the system are based on the characteristics of the HAMAMATSU H7546 multianode photomultiplier. The circuit, implemented in a 0.35 μm CMOS technology, consumes less than 1 mW from a 3.3 V power supply and can operate properly up to 70°C.

Keywords

CMOS digital integrated circuits; circuit simulation; current comparators; high-speed integrated circuits; integrated circuit design; low-power electronics; photomultipliers; photon counting; 0.35 micron; 3.3 V; 4 bit programmable threshold; CMOS current comparator; CMOS technology implementation; HAMAMATSU H7546; UV free space studies; detector dark current; high speed current comparator; low power current comparator; multianode photomultiplier; photon counting systems; post acquisition analysis; satellite acquisition systems; system specifications; Bonding; CMOS image sensors; CMOS technology; Circuits; Dark current; Optoelectronic and photonic sensors; Performance analysis; Photomultipliers; Radiation detectors; Satellite broadcasting;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Circuits and Systems, 2004. ISCAS '04. Proceedings of the 2004 International Symposium on

Print_ISBN

0-7803-8251-X

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ISCAS.2004.1328229

Filename

1328229