Smart Multichannel Charge Amplifier

Purpose and goal

The projects purpose was to evaluate the possibilities for miniaturised solutions in the form of integrated circuits (ASIC), of charge amplifiers for X-Ray spectroscopy, to be used in a scanner for mineral analysis samples. The goal has been to verify that integrated solutions can be built with performance (with respect to noise, packaging and power) enabling the construction of a detector with many parallel channels. The project also aimed at investigateing the possibilities of handling large amount of data in a parallel system.

Expected results and effects

The results show that noise performance for an integrated solution can achieve significantly better levels compared to the discrete solutions available today. The ASIC-solutions that were evaluated also proved to possess the stability and tolerance required to proceed with a multichannel implementation. The project has also successfully constructed hardware and built software that will the foundation for data collection for parallel systems.

Planned approach and implementation

The project has been performed as a cooperation between product owner, IT-industry and the University, each with clear specialist competencies and goals within the project. The set-up proved successful, insofar that the resources could cooperate to reach the project goals; the project owner set requirements and specified the necessary properties and tested solutions in the intended analysis machine, the IT-industry constructed and optimised the system, the University provided specialist competence and necessary laboratories.