High Time Resolution, Low-Noise, Power-Efficient, Charge-Sensitive Amplifier in 40 nm Technology

Particle detection circuits are used for a wide range of applications from experimental physics to material testing and medical imaging. In the state-of-the-art systems, the trend is to design low-noise and low-power readout front-end electronics with a low detection error rate and small silicon area occupation. This paper presents the design of a high time resolution, low-noise, and power-efficient charge sensitive amplifier (CSA) in 40 nm CMOS technology. For every charge pulse of the detector, the CSA generates voltage signals with a peak amplitude of 30.6 mV, a rise time of 2.35 ns, and an equivalent noise charge (ENC) of 44e
^-
with 0.14 mW power consumption.