Prototype characterization of the JUNGFRAU pixel detector for SwissFEL

The SwissFEL, a free electron laser (FEL) based next generation X-ray source, is being built at PSI. An XFEL poses several challenges to the detector development: in particular the single photon counting readout, a successful scheme in case of synchrotron sources, can not be used. At the same time the data quality of photon counting systems, i.e. the low noise and the high dynamic range, is essential from an experimental point of view. Detectors with these features are under development for the EU-XFEL in Hamburg, with the PSI SLS Detector group being involved in one of these efforts (AGIPD). The pulse train time structure of the EU-XFEL machine forces the need of in pixel image storage, resulting in pixel pitches in the 200 μm range. Since the SwissFEL is a 100 Hz repetition rate machine, this constrain is relaxed. For this reason, PSI is developing a 75 μm pitch pixel detector that, thanks to its automatic gain switching technique, will achieve single photon resolution and a high dynamic range. The detector is modular, with each module consisting of a 4 × 8 cm2 active sensor bump bonded to 8 readout ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), connected to a single printed circuit readout board with 10GbE link capabilities for data download. We have designed and tested a 48 × 48 pixel prototype produced in UMC110 nm technology. In this paper we present the general detector and ASIC design as well as the results of the prototype characterization measurements.