Readout chip for Column Parallel CCD, CPR2A

The LCFI Collaboration is developing the sensors, readout electronics and mechanical support structures for the vertex detector (VXD) of the International Linear Collider (ILC), as well as studying the physics performance that the VXD will achieve. Since the VXD must provide excellent spatial resolution, the sensors must have very low mass and their power consumption must be small to ensure that the sensors themselves cause as little multiple scattering as possible and that gas cooling can be used to operate them at temperatures of about -40 C. High-speed readout is also needed to ensure that the occupancy due to the pair production background at the ILC is kept below the 1% level. In order to satisfy these strict requirements, Column Parallel CCDs (CPCCDs) and Column Parallel Readout chips (CPRs) have been developed. The readout chips must be able to operate synchronously with the CPCCDs and ensure fast signal processing with low noise and data compression. The design and performance of the latest version of the readout chip, the CPR2A, are described here. © 2009 Elsevier B.V