Abstract:
Various approaches are discussed for using four-side buttable CMOS tiles to fabricate detector panels, including large-area detector panels. Fabrication may utilize pads and interconnect structures formed on the top or bottom of the CMOS tiles. Electrical connection and readout may utilize readout and digitization circuitry provided on the CMOS tiles themselves such that readout of groups or sub-arrays of pixels occurs at the tile level, while tiles are then readout at the detector level such that readout operations are tiered or multi-level.
Abstract:
An imager tile including four-side buttable sub-imager pixel arrays with on-chip digitizing electronic readout circuit. Pixel groupings formed from among the plurality of imagers. Readout electronics including a buffer amplifier for each of the pixel groupings are connected to respective outputs of buttable imagers. Shared analog front ends connect to respective buffer amplifiers of pixel groupings. An analog-to-digital converter at a common centroid location relative to the shared analog front ends includes three data lines - selection input/output line to individually select an output, a clock input line, and a shared digital output line. A pixel output from a respective buffer amplifier is addressable by data provided on the selection input/output line, and the pixel output is provided on the shared digital output line. The I/O lines connected to a programmable logic device where the imager serial data input is output as a massively parallel data stream.
Abstract:
An application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) comprising a plurality of channels, each channel having circuitry for time and energy discrimination, a plurality of programmable registers, each programmable register configured to output at least one configuration parameter for the circuitry, and a channel-select register configured to identify a channel of the plurality of channels to be configured. The ASIC further includes a configuration-select register configured to identify the programmable register to be used for channel configuration, and a communications interface configured to transmit instructions received from a controller to one of the channel-select register, the configuration-select register, and the plurality of programmable registers.
Abstract:
A silicon photomultiplier includes a plurality of microcells providing a pulse output in response to an incident radiation, each microcell including circuitry configured to enable and disable the pulse output. Each microcell includes a cell disable switch. The control logic circuit controls the cell disable switch and a self-test circuit. A microcell's pulse output is disabled when the cell disable switch is in a first state. A method for self-test calibration of microcells includes providing a test enable signal to the microcells, integrating dark current for a predetermined time period, comparing the integrated dark current to a predetermined threshold level, and providing a signal if above the predetermined threshold level.
Abstract:
An imager tile including four-side buttable sub-imager pixel arrays with on-chip digitizing electronic readout circuit. Pixel groupings formed from among the plurality of imagers. Readout electronics including a buffer amplifier for each of the pixel groupings are connected to respective outputs of buttable imagers. Shared analog front ends connect to respective buffer amplifiers of pixel groupings. An analog-to-digital converter at a common centroid location relative to the shared analog front ends includes three data lines—selection input/output line to individually select an output, a clock input line, and a shared digital output line. A pixel output from a respective buffer amplifier is addressable by data provided on the selection input/output line, and the pixel output is provided on the shared digital output line. The I/O lines connected to a programmable logic device where the imager serial data input is output as a massively parallel data stream.
Abstract:
Photomultipliers are disclosed which comprise circuitry for detecting photo electric events and generating short digital pulses in response. In one embodiment, the photomultipliers comprise solid state photomultipliers having an array of microcells. The microcells, in one embodiment, in response to incident photons, generate a digital pulse signal having a duration of about 2 ns or less.