KLauS: an ASIC for silicon photomultiplier readout and its application in a setup for production testing of scintillating tiles

Abstract

KLauS is an ASIC produced in the AMS 0.35 μm SiGe process to read out the charge signals from silicon photomultipliers.Developed as an analog front-end for future calorimeters with highgranularity as pursued by the AHCAL concept in the CALICEcollaboration, the ASIC is designed to measure the charge signal ofthe sensors in a large dynamic range and with low electronic noisecontributions. In order to tune the operation voltage of each sensorindividually, an 8-bit DAC to tune the voltage at the input terminalwithin a range of 2V is implemented. Using an integrated fastcomparator with low jitter, the time information can be measured withsub-nanosecond resolution. The low power consumption of the ASIC canbe further decreased using power gating techniques. Future versionsof KLauS are under development and will incorporate an ADC with aresolution of up to 12-bits and blocks for digital data transmission.The chip is used in a setup for mass testing and characterization ofscintillator tiles for the AHCAL test beam program.