Spectroscopic performance of the DePMOS detector/amplifier device with respect to different filtering techniques and operating conditions

A DePMOS structure provides detection and amplification jointly, and it is free of interconnection stray capacitance. To fully exploit the intrinsic low noise of the device an electrical model has been developed. The most relevant parameters have been measured in order to choose an adequate readout electronics. DePMOS can operate in continuous mode, i.e., without applying any clear pulse during the signal processing, and can be read out by a time-continuous shaper amplifier. An unequalled noise of 2.2 electrons rms at room temperature has been measured. In this mode DePMOS can be used, for example, as the readout device for silicon drift detectors. Anyway, DePMOS was developed to be the basic element of an active pixel sensor suitable to cope with the requirements of the XEUS Wide Field Imager. In a matrix arrangement, each pixel must be read out by a time-variant filter. A multichannel integrated shaping amplifier, based on multicorrelated double sampling, has been designed. Spectroscopic resolution obtained filtering the pixel matrix with this readout chip is in agreement with measurements in continuous mode and matches the predictions of the model presented. It has also been experimentally proved that the clear procedure does not introduce additional noise contribution, even in the very low noise range achieved. This qualifies DePMOS as a "reset-noise-free" device. © 2006 IEEE.