Development of small pixel CZT detectors for future hard x-ray missions

G. Pinaroli; G. A. Carini; G. W. Deptuch; D. S. Górni; S. Mandal; N. St. John; H. Krawczynski; A. T West

doi:10.1117/12.2676991

5 October 2023 Development of small pixel CZT detectors for future hard x-ray missions

G. Pinaroli, G. A. Carini, G. W. Deptuch, D. S. Górni, S. Mandal, N. St. John, H. Krawczynski, A. T West

Proceedings Volume 12678, UV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Space Instrumentation for Astronomy XXIII; 126780P (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2676991
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2023, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array) mission launched in 2012, and it has successfully deployed the first orbiting telescopes to focus light in the high-energy x-ray range (3 - 79 keV), providing a wealth of new information about the sources of high-energy x-rays. Follow-up missions such as the proposed HEX-P, BEST, and FORCE could perform a deeper black hole census providing a more refined measurement of black hole spins, allowing for greater knowledge about supermassive black holes. These missions are motivated by recent breakthroughs in hard x-ray mirror technologies where mirrors made of monolithic silicon segments and mirrors made directly or through replication of shells demonstrate the feasibility of making hard x-ray mirrors with angular resolutions of five to ten arc seconds Half Power Diameter (HPD) compared to NuSTAR’s one arc minute HPD. Such a high angular resolution requires matched detectors (higher pixel density) to fully benefit from the achievable improved spatial resolution. In the above framework, the development of the HEXID ASIC, embedding is a novel pixelated front-end suitable for reading out a finely segmented CZT sensor, is presented. The required large dynamic range (from 2 keV to 180 keV) and low input noise (ENC ⪅ 20 e⁻) together with a small pixel size (150 μm) pose several design challenges in chip implementation. The chosen architecture of the front-end circuit and in-pixel processing blocks, together with the readout architecture of the registered signals and other adopted design solutions, driven by the quoted requirements, will be reviewed.

Conference Presentation

(2023) Published by SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Citation Download Citation

G. Pinaroli, G. A. Carini, G. W. Deptuch, D. S. Górni, S. Mandal, N. St. John, H. Krawczynski, and A. T West "Development of small pixel CZT detectors for future hard x-ray missions", Proc. SPIE 12678, UV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Space Instrumentation for Astronomy XXIII, 126780P (5 October 2023); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2676991

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