A fast, low power CMOS amplifier on SOI for sensor applications in a radiation environment of up to 20 Mrad(Si)

The design and measurements of a 0.5 mW CMOS current mode amplifier in a SOI radiation hard technology are reported for a total dose of 20 Mrad(Si). It is designed for the fast readout of particle detectors in high energy physics experiments but could equally be applied to the readout of any capacitive sensor in a radiation environment. A pre-irradiation gain of 43.3 mV/4fC, rise time of 17 ns and Equivalent Noise Charge (ENC) of 1436e+78e/pF (1.97nV(Hz)/sup -1/2/) is achieved. Measurements are reported at 0, 10 Mrad(Si) and 20 Mrad(Si) with the evolution showing changes in peak voltage, rise time, parallel noise and series noise of -23%, 26%, 25% and 60% respectively after 20 Mrad(Si).