A full on-chip, low noise, low power consumption reference generator in monolithic active pixel sensors

The monolithic active pixel sensor (MAPS) is a promising choice to track charged particles in high energy physics experiments, such as the solenoidal tracker at RHIC (STAR). In order to achieve a clean reference voltage and simplify the cable placement, a full on-chip reference generator is presented in this paper. By utilizing a buffer and a series RC network, the proposed circuit can achieve good stability, low power and low noise, without any external components. The output voltage is adjustable to compensate the influence of the fabrication process. The generator has been implemented and fabricated in a standard 0.35 mu m CMOS process. Its silicon area is 327 mu m x 119 mu m. The total power dissipation is 677 mu W at a supply voltage of 3.3 V. The measured results show that only 5.84% of the total noise in MAPS is induced by the proposed reference generator. The comparison with the other optional circuit based on a current buffer is also presented. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier B.V.