GOSSIPO-3: measurements on the prototype of a read-out pixel chip for Micro-Pattern Gaseous Detectors

GOSSIPO-3 is a demonstrator of a front-end chip designed in IBM 130 nm CMOS in collaboration between Nikhef (Amsterdam) and the Physics Department of the University of Bonn for the read-out of Micro-Pattern Gas Detectors. The prototype features charge sensitive amplifiers, discriminators, a high resolution Time to Digital Converter (TDC), two different Low Drop Out (LDO) voltage regulators for supply voltage control of the Time to Digital Converter, biasing circuits and control logic on a 2 x 1 mm2 die. The chip can be operated in a time measuring mode or an event counting mode. Following the prototype announcement at the TWEPP 2009, measurement data on gain, noise performance, channel to channel ToT spread and LDO load step responses is now available. The measurement results confirm the high gain and low noise (ENC = 25 e-) predicted by simulations. Stable and reproducible time bin sizes of the TDC are also confirmed.