A FULLY INTEGRATED LOW-POWER CMOS PARTICLE DETECTOR FRONT-END FOR SPACE APPLICATIONS

A fully integrated low-power complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor ( CMOS) particle detector front-end (PDFE), optimized for space applicat ions, is presented. The front-end comprises a charge sensitive amplifi er and a four-stage semi-Gaussian pulse-shaping amplifier. The chip wa s custom synthesized with an analog synthesis environment. With a powe r consumption of only 10 mW and a chip area less than 1 mm(2), the chi p is very well suited for the stringent demands in space applications. Measurements show a peaking time of 1.2 mu s and a total equivalent n oise charge of less than 1000 e(rms)(-). Although a standard 0.7-mu m CMOS was used, little performance degradation was observed after expos ure to a total dose irradiation of 50 kRad. All tested chips fully rec overed within specifications, after 24 h of annealing at room temperat ure.