Radiation-Hardened Adjustable Sample Rate ADC for Particle Detectors

In response to Department of Energy SBIR topic 61a, Ridgetop Group will develop an adjustable sampling rate, high performance analog-to-digital converter (ADC) that is tolerant to very high levels of radiation. The significance of this innovation is that the ADC is designed to combine high resolution, high sampling speed, and low power with very high levels of radiation hardness. All of these features are needed in the ADCs of the planned SLHC, the upgrade of the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) particle accelerator at CERN in Switzerland. Ridgetop will design the ADC in the IBM 8HP SiGe process which has 130 nm minimum feature size for CMOS devices and is intrinsically tolerant to extreme radiation levels. Radiation Hardening By Design (RHBD) techniques will be employed in design as well. Large part of the design and needed radiation effect simulations will be finished during phase I and the fabrication, product qualification and radiation hardness testing are scheduled for phase II Commercial Applications and Other Benefits: High performance ADCs that are hardened to extreme levels of radiation are key components of the SLH experiment that is the largest scientific experiment ever constructed. Suitable components for the purpose are not currently available. Few hundreds of thousands of qualified ADCs will be needed for the experiment. Another possible scientific application for this ADC is NASAs flagship mission to the Jovian moon Europa, the radiation levels of which require this type of device. The ADC can be also used in defense applications, such as missile control, and federal and commercial space applications. Medical imaging devices are another market for the ADC