A 2D 4×4 Channel Readout ASIC for Pixelated CdTe Detectors for Medical Imaging Applications

We present a 16-channel readout integrated circuit (ROIC) with nanosecond-resolution time to digital converter (TDC) for pixelated Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) gamma-ray detectors. The 4 × 4 pixel array ROIC is the proof of concept of the 10 × 10 pixel array readout ASIC for positron-emission tomography (PET) scanner, positron-emission mammography (PEM) scanner, and Compton gamma camera. The electronics of each individual pixel integrates an analog front-end with switchable gain, an analog to digital converter (ADC), configuration registers, and a 4-state digital controller. For every detected photon, the pixel electronics provides the energy deposited in the detector with 10-bit resolution, and a fast trigger signal for time stamp. The ASIC contains the 16-pixel matrix electronics, a digital controller, five global voltage references, a TDC, a temperature sensor, and a band-gap based current reference. The ASIC has been fabricated with TSMC 0.25 microm mixed-signal CMOS technology and occupies an area of 5.3 mm × 6.8 mm. The TDC shows a resolution of 95.5 ps, a precision of 600 ps at full width half maximum (FWHM), and a power consumption of 130 microW. In acquisition mode, the total power consumption of every pixel is 200 microW. An equivalent noise charge (ENC) of 160 e^-RMS at maximum gain and negative polarity conditions has been measured at room temperature.