ECE Departmental Seminar
Microelectronics for Radiation Detectors
Dr. Gianluigi De Geronimo
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Wednesday, 3/8/17, 1:00pm
Light Engineering 250
Abstract: Radiation detectors find application in several areas, the most prominent being medical imaging, national security, safeguard, and physics research. In order to achieve a high resolution, these detectors require specialized low-noise electronics, also known as front-end electronics. This seminar presents the most relevant technical and non-technical aspects of front-end electronics design for radiation detectors. The concepts of low-noise charge amplification, pulse shaping and equivalent noise charge are introduced.
Front-end application-specific integrated circuits are regarded as a critical enabling technology without which both present and future radiation detector developments would be impossible. The deep knowledge of this specialized front-end design has traditionally belonged to a very limited number of research groups and institutions worldwide. A major challenge comes from the dramatic increase in demand, combined with the need for higher resolving capability, functionality and portability. These stringent requirements push the state-of- the-art to the limit and calls for continuous innovation. The rapid evolution of front-end ASICs is discussed and state-of- the-art developments are shown.
Biography: Gianluigi De Geronimo received his Ph.D. in microelectronics from Milan Polytechnic in 1997. Shortly after that he joined the Instrumentation Division of Brookhaven National Laboratory, NY, where he specialized in the design of front-end integrated circuits for radiation detectors. He successfully developed several state-of- the-art ASICs implementing innovative circuits and frequently achieving record performance. He collaborates with several institutions and industries and is co-author of over 130 scientific publications and two book chapters.
Dr. De Geronimo is a Visiting Research Scientist with the Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Department at the University of Michigan and an Adjunct Professor with the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the Stony Brook University where he teaches a course on microelectronics for sensors, and mentors of several MS and Ph.D. students. Recipient of the 2008 BNL Science and Technology Award, 2012 CSIRO Award, 2012 Battelle Inventor of the Year Award, and 2009, 2011, and 2014 R&D 100 Awards, he holds 20 patents and records of invention. He is editor of IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science and reviewer for various journals and government institutions.