Characterization of PFM3, a 32×32 readout chip for PixFEL X-ray imager

In the framework of the PixFEL project, a readout chip for pixel sensors has been designed and fabricated in a 65 nm CMOS technology. The PixFEL detector is intended for application to coherent X-ray diffraction imaging (CXDI) at the next generation free electron lasers (FELs). This paper will present a characterization of PFM3's signal chain first stage. Characterization data has been collected from the charge sensitive amplifier (CSA) stage, implementing a dynamic compression of the input signal. Measurements demonstrating the validity of the dynamic compression feature for various gain settings (1 keV, 2keV and 3keV) and temperatures -40 °C to 70 °C are shown.