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IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity

Single-Flux-Quantum Circuit Based Readout System for Detector Arrays by Using Time to Digital Conversion

Ali Bozbey, Shigeyuki Miyajima, Hiroyuki Akaike, Akira Fujimaki

Published Jun 1, 2009• 27 citations
Publisher

Abstract

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.

DOI
10.1109/tasc.2009.2018038

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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.
We describe a million-pixel-scale multiplexed readout for superconducting Transition Edge Sensor (TES) microcalorimeters, using Rapid Single Flux Quantum (RSFQ) digital circuits. Depending on the application and the power dissipation requirements, the readout circuits may be either fabricated on the same wafer as the TES or integrated with the TES wafer using a multichip module, thereby integrating the TES and readout circuits. A data reduction scheme in the RSFQ circuits is described, using integrating counters to measure the TES pulse area. Power and clock requirements for measuring a large number of TES channels per readout line are discussed. Basic components of the ISTER readout circuit have been fabricated in the SFQ5ee process at MIT Lincoln Laboratory and operated at 4 K. The fabrication process has eight fully planarized Nb layers and one layer of Nb/Al-AlOx/Nb Josephson junctions with 100μ\muμA/μ\muμm2^{2}2critical current density. Simulations of a TES read out are performed to investigate possible limits on energy resolution using ISTER.
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 have been studying single flux quantum (SFQ) digital signal processing (DSP) circuits for superconducting tunnel junction (STJ) photon detector arrays. The proposed DSP circuit consists of a binary tree of multiplexers, a time counter, a binary counter, and a readout memory. Each multiplexer was designed such that the first arriving SFQ pulse train connects to the binary counter until the time counter reaches a set value. The time counter is set to a sufficiently long time compared with the response time of STJ photon detector. After processing the multiplexer, SFQ pulses are integrated by the binary counter. The number of integrated SFQ pulses is proportional to the number of quasi-particles generated by photon irradiation in an STJ. After the time counter reaches the set value, the time counter generates a set SFQ pulse to set the multiplexer in the ready state, the integrated value is sent to the readout memory and then the binary counter is reset. The binary tree of multiplexers could be extended to have address bits for photon imaging using an STJ array. One key component of the proposed DSP circuit was fabricated and its operation using an on-chip clock generator was successfully demonstrated.
Superconducting transition-edge sensors (TESs) are highly sensitive detectors and can detect electromagnetic wave radiations from millimeter/submillimeter, optical to 𝑥/γrays, suitable for cosmology, astrophysics, quantum information, and biosensing. In principle, thousands of TESs even more are required to enhance the detection efficiency for large-scale survey. Among other multiplexing schemes, microwave SQUID multiplexer (μMUX), consisting of resonators and RF SQUIDs, has a bandwidth of several GHz, thus multiplexing factor on the order of thousands, more suitable for readout of large TES arrays. We designed and fabricated superconducting coplanar waveguide (CPW) resonators with a high qualityfactor and second-order gradient RF SQUID with two inductive coupling structures respectively. Then, we optimized the critical current density of the Josephson junction and measured the mutual inductance parameters of the second-order gradient structure SQUID, which are consistent with the simulation results. Finally, we fabricated a cryogenic μMUX chip based on RF SQUID and resonator. We discussed the results of the development of μMUX in more detail.
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.
Transition Edge Sensors (TESs) are highly sensitive cryogenic detectors widely used in astronomy, high-energy physics and nuclear radiation detection. As TES is increasingly deployed in large-scale arrays to improve sensitivity and effective collecting area, multiplexed readout becomes essential for reducing system complexity. Microwave SQUID multiplexing (μMUX) technology combining superconducting resonators with radio-frequency superconducting quantum interference devices (RF-SQUIDs), represents a state-of-the-art solution. In this work, a room-temperature readout prototype for TES μMUX readout was designed. The system features a scalable two-stage architecture, including a highly integrated, chassis-independent front-end signal processing module and back-end event-reconstruction module. A high-frequency-resolution frequency-comb signal generation method with real-time, per-tone frequency and phase tunability was developed. In addition, optimization of the firmware implementation effectively overcomes the computational-resource bottleneck of the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). The prototype supports autonomous frequency sweeping, parameter diagnostics, and online event reconstruction. Self-test shows S 21 phase noise better than −110 dBc/Hz at −30 dBm, remaining stable with increasing channel count. Joint tests with a μMUX cryogenic system successfully captured the RF-SQUID response and achieved an equivalent noise current of 44 pA/√Hz referred to the TES, validating the prototype as a practical solution of the room-temperature system for TES μMUX readout.