A Software-Scalable Analog-to-Digital Converter for Particle Detectors in 28nm bulk CMOS

• Main Authors: Krystofiak, L., Christ, V., Kusuma, S., Grewing, C., Zambanini, A., Waasen, S. van
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: Costs; High energy physics; Microwave integrated circuits; Power demand; Prototypes; Radiation detectors; Semiconductor detectors
• ISSN: 2577-0829
• DOI: 10.1109/NSSMICRTSD49126.2023.10338641

New discoveries in particle physics put an ever-increasing demand on the installed electronics in detector experiments. Currently used process technologies for integrated electronics, as 65nm and larger, are reaching their limits of resolution over power consumption and integration factor. The consequential progression to a smaller process technology comes with increased cost and design complexity resulting in a higher impact on the overall success of a project. The currently discussed way out of this predicament is concentrating cost and effort in fewer, more generic solutions covering a wider range of applications. A first prototype of a software-scalable Analog-to-Digital converter manufactured in a 28nm bulk CMOS process technology is presented, which is part of a generic frontend solution concept. It incorporates a low-power mode with 8 bit of resolution, a maximum sample rate of 480 MSPS, and a power consumption of 1.62 mW. When higher resolution is needed, a high-precision mode can be used with a resolution of 11 bit, a maximum sample rate of 350 MSPS and a power consumption of 5.6 mW. The complete software-scalable Analog-to-Digital converter takes 0.029 mm² of chip area. Overall, the first chip is 1 mm² in size. It includes two channels, a high-speed parallel communication interface, a clock buffer and memory for 8168 Analog-to-Digital converter samples.