SPICE evaluation of the S/N ratio for Si microstrip detectors

SPICE simulations of ac-coupled single-sided Si microstrip detectors connected to the PreShape 32 read-out chip have been performed in order to determine the geometrical characteristics (i.e., the strip pitch p and width w) which maximize the signal-to-noise ratio. All of the resistive and capacitive elements of the detector have been determined as a function of the w/p ratio by considering experimental and simulated data available in literature. The SPICE model the authors propose in this work takes into account all the main noise sources in the detector and read-out electronics. The minimum ionizing particle current signal shape has been introduced in the simulations. Two readout configurations (every strip or every second strip) have been investigated for 6.4- and 12.8-cm-long detectors. The equivalent noise charge as determined by the simulations has been compared with analytical calculations, in order to determine the limits and the corrections to a simplified analytical noise model. Finally, general guidelines for the detector design have been proposed, based on the simulation results.