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IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity

Electronics for arrays of transition edge sensors using digital signal processing

Sae Woo Nam, J. Beyer, Gene C Hilton, K. D. Irwin, C. D. Reintsema, John M. Martinis

Published Jun 1, 2003• 9 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Single-pixel transition-edge sensors (TES) are useful for a variety of applications requiring the detection of photons from sub-millimeter wavelengths to gamma rays. Arrays of TES's are required in the next-generation instruments to continue to be useful. We report on the development and performance of an electronics system used to readout and process signals from arrays of TES detectors. The system utilizes high-performance analog and digital electronics, and digital signal-processing. Because the system digitizes signals early in the signal processing chain, it is possible to implement a digital-feedback system to flux lock a SQUID amplifier and digitally process the detector (feedback) signal.

DOI
10.1109/tasc.2003.813963

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Single-pixel transition-edge sensors (TES) are useful for a variety of applications requiring the detection of photons from sub-millimeter wavelengths to gamma rays. Arrays of TES's are required in the next-generation instruments to continue to be useful. We report on the development and performance of an electronics system used to readout and process signals from arrays of TES detectors. The system utilizes high-performance analog and digital electronics, and digital signal-processing. Because the system digitizes signals early in the signal processing chain, it is possible to implement a digital-feedback system to flux lock a SQUID amplifier and digitally process the detector (feedback) signal.
We propose a single-flux-quantum (SFQ) based readout circuit for a transition edge sensor (TES) array for X-ray radiation detection. Utilization of SFQ circuits for this purpose enables large-scale integration of TESs due to very high speed processing ability of the received signals and using an already established integrated circuit design environment. We utilize the cooling time dependence of the TES on the incident X-ray energy. Time to digital conversion is made by using an SFQ based quasi-one-junction SQUID (QOS), which works as a 1-bit comparator with an adjustable current threshold level, and an SFQ based high speed counter. The readout system is composed of two separate chips that are connected to each other with flexible superconducting wiring. The QOS-multiplexer chip is directly connected to the TES array and it performs the digital conversion of the TES output. The demultiplexer-counter chip, which will be placed at elevated temperatures, receives the multiplexed SFQ pulses and determines the duration of the TES output which is above the predetermined threshold level. Final goal of this work is to readout more than 10 k TES pixels and in this paper, feasibility of the system and current status of the development process is demonstrated.
Multiplexed superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) amplifiers have recently enabled the deployment of kilopixel arrays of superconducting transition-edge sensor (TES) detectors on a variety of receivers for astrophysics. Existing multiplexing techniques for TES arrays, however, have constraints due to aliasing of SQUID noise, the size of the required filtering elements, or the complexity of the room-temperature electronics that make it difficult to scale to much larger arrays. We have developed a Walsh code-division SQUID multiplexer that has the potential to enable the multiplexing of larger arrays or pixels with faster thermal response times. The multiplexer uses superconducting switches to modulate the polarity of coupling between N individual TES detectors and a single output SQUID channel. The polarities of the detector signals are switched in the pattern of an N × N Walsh matrix, so a frame composed of N orthogonal samples can be used to reconstruct the detector signals without degradation. We present an analysis of the circuit architecture and preliminary results.
We discuss the implementation of a time-division superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) multiplexing system for the instrumentation of large-format transition-edge sensor arrays. We cover the design and integration of cryogenic SQUID multiplexers and amplifiers, signal management and wiring, analog interface electronics, a digital feedback system, serial-data streaming and management, and system configuration and control. We present data verifying performance of the digital-feedback system. System noise and bandwidth measurements demonstrate the feasibility of adapting this technology for a broad base of applications, including x-ray materials analysis and imaging arrays for future astronomy missions such as Constellation-X (x-ray) and the SCUBA-2 instrument (submillimeter) for the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope.
SQUIDs can be used as amplifiers for superconducting Transition Edge Sensor (TES) photon counting detectors. According to the physical process of photon counting, a TES signal simulator was developed to evaluate the performance of SQUID amplifier for TES detectors. A triangle simulation signal was determined to be a close match to that from a real TES photon counter. The dynamic range for the output voltage versus bias current was first characterized and then the current signals were incrementally coupled to circuit to determine the highest sensitivity of a series-array SQUID amplifier. The sensitivities are obtained by changing the triangle signal amplitude added to the TES signal simulator. The impedance changes can be deduced and further obtain the temperature changes of TES devices. When knowing the photon energy, TES design parameters can be known according to the thermal characteristics. In conclusion, the TES simulator can be well applied to guide the device design for effective readout.
The number of elements in most cryogenic sensor arrays is limited by the technology available to multiplex signals from the arrays into a smaller number of wires and readout amplifiers. The largest demonstrated arrays of transition-edge sensor (TES) microcalorimeters contain roughly 250 detectors and use time-division multiplexing with Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices (SQUIDs). The bandwidth limits of this technology constrain the number of sensors per amplifier chain, a quantity known as the multiplexing factor, to several 10s. With microwave SQUID multiplexing, we can expand the readout bandwidth and enable much larger multiplexing factors. While microwave SQUID multiplexing of TES microcalorimeters has been previously demonstrated with small numbers of detectors, we now present a fully scalable demonstration in which 128 TES detectors are read out on a single pair of coaxial cables.
Abstract Transition-edge sensors (TESs) are sensitive devices for detecting photons from millimeter radiation to γ rays. Their photon counting efficiency and collecting area benefit from large-array multiplexing scheme, and therefore the development of multiplexing readout system has been an important topic in this field. Among the many multiplex techniques, time-division multiplexing (TDM) superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) has been used most widely for TES readout. In this work, we design a Configurable Ultra-Low Noise Current Source (CLCS) for TES characterization and as a part of a whole TDM-TES bias control system. The CLCS is based on the feedback structure of ultra-low noise instrumentation amplifiers and low-noise, high-resolution (20 bits) digital-to-analog converter (DAC). CLCS has an ultra-high resolution of 10 nA in the 0 to 5 mA current output range, and can perform current-voltage (IV) sweep and bias-step tests to measure key TES parameters on board. The feedback structure of the CLCS also avoids the issue of impedance mismatch.