Cryogenic standard CMOS sensor readout electronics
Olivier Charlier, Thys Cronje, Chris A. Van Hoof · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 2000
Hybrid sensors performance critically depends on the performance of the analog read-out electronics. The analog design methodologies are very well known and documented provided the operating temperature stays above temperatures where carrier freeze-out occurs. Even though the behavior of individual MOS transistors at low temperature, i.e. below 30 K, has been studied in detail, this has not yet led to design guidelines for the design of building blocks and/or complete systems that will operate satisfactorily at these low temperatures. The main challenges are the design of amplifiers with high open-loop gain, low electrical power consumption and low noise. By providing cryogenic design guidelines, this paper tries to bridge the gap that exists between the information available on the MOS transistors and the needs of design engineers confronted with practical problems. The issue of transistor dimensioning using simple models of the MOS transistor will be discussed.