3D monolithically stacked CMOS Active Pixel Sensors for particle position and direction measurements

Abstract

In this work we propose a 3D monolithically stacked, multi-layer detectors based on CMOS Active Pixel Sensors (APS) layers which allows at the same time accurate estimation of the impact point and of the incidence angle an ionizing particle. The whole system features two fully-functional CMOS APS matrix detectors, including both sensing area and control/signal elaboration circuitry, stacked in a monolithic device by means of Through Silicon Via (TSV) connections thanks to the capabilities of the CMOS vertical scale integration (3D-IC) 130 nm Chartered/Tezzaron technology. In order to evaluate the suitability of the two layer monolithic active pixel sensor system to reconstruct particle tracks, tests with proton beams have been carried out at the INFN LABEC laboratories in Florence (Italy) with 3 MeV proton beam.